


A New Way of Life

by mackerell



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cheesy, Children of Characters, Dadvain, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Family, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Husbands, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Impregnation, Married Couple, Married Life, Married Sex, Minor Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius, Minor Ashe Ubert/Ingrid Brandl Galatea, Minor Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Marianne von Edmund, Minor Ferdinand von Aegir/Dorothea Arnault, Newborn Children, Past Child Abuse, Romance, Sibling Love, Sibling Rivalry, Smut, Stay at home Father, Sylvain being a kind and gentle father, The abuse mentioned is Sylvain's past, lots of teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-06-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:41:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 71,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22996360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mackerell/pseuds/mackerell
Summary: An Alternate Universe: Modern Setting"With you by my side, I am excited to find out what this new way of life is all about."Byleth is a University professor and Sylvain is a loving househusband. They have three children.(Disclaimer: This fanfic is inspired by a fanart in twitter.)
Relationships: Sylvain Jose Gautier/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 52
Kudos: 119





	1. A lovers tryst

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a fanart @ twitter:  
> https://twitter.com/amaiainokotoba/status/1170541666232610817?s=20
> 
> This chapter contains explicit sexual content: Unprotected sex, Mentions of Pregnancy, and Mentions of Accidental Pregnancies.  
> It's my first time to write a little more detailed smut so any feedback would be appreciated.  
> The next chapter will be fluff and Daddy!Sylvain taking the children to Preschool.

_“Marry Me. I’d do anything for you.”_

His words were excessive, yet sincere as he knelt down on the ground on one knee holding a ring encrusted with a silver coating that adorned a simple green gem.

His beloved was first bewildered with his sudden action but then she started smiling warmly at him.

 _“I love you. I have no choice then.”_ She took his hand as he stood up slowly.

 _“You mean…”_ He mused replaying his response in his head.

 _“Yes, I’ll marry you.”_ She took a step closer to him as she closed her eyes.

He responded to her gesture happily savoring this moment and as their lips went nearer…

_“BZZZZZZT! BZZZZZT!”_

The alarm clock rang loudly waking the dreamer up from his ‘oh so sweet’ dream.

Sylvain rubbed his eyes adjusting to his surroundings as he immediately pressed the “Snooze” button on his phone and went back to lie down on the bed.

He smiled slightly hoping his dream would come back but abruptly the alarm rang again and Sylvain knew he had to get up. He sat back up again while half-awake and groggy. As the blanket fell off his upper body, He noticed he felt quite cold in the spring time and then realization hit him when he realized that he was naked underneath the warm blankets.

“Wait…” His eyes dart to his bed companion, his wife, who was also bare beside him and fast asleep.

He recollects waiting for Byleth to arrive home yesterday. She messaged him earlier that she is unable to have dinner with him and the children. After tucking the children to bed, Sylvain circled around the dinner table several times worried sick of his wife arriving home safely (although he knew that his wife is capable to protect herself, he still worries about her).

…

When his beloved wife arrives home, he immediately hugs her and gives her a kiss. The kiss was pure and chaste, but after seeing her warm smile; Sylvain couldn’t control himself any longer. Soon, it changed to a coarser tone with heated kisses and tossing of clothes in the bedroom floor.

“Hmm…We have to be… quiet…” Byleth moans as he plants kisses on her neck going down to her breast.

“Says the person who makes a sound.” He laughs as he dips down to tend to her breasts, licking and sucking one of her nipples while his hand attended to the opposite side. His other hand pinches her nipple causing Byleth another moan.

“Hmm…” Byleth clamps her hand on her mouth suppressing her pleasurable groans and whimpers while her husband switches his mouth on her other breast.

“Tastes sweet.” Sylvain stops his ministrations and looks at her, seeing her sensitive to his touches only aroused him more. He smirks and continues to kiss her breast teasingly.

Byleth groans as she whines “Sylvain… Stop teasing.” Slowly, Sylvain releases his mouth on her nipple following a trail of saliva from his mouth to her breast. He then hovers over her admiring the view of her breasts; wet and sensitive after he tended carefully to them.

“Byleth, you do know that I haven’t had dessert yet?” He smiles mischievously licking his lips, but it only earned him a playful slap to his shoulder.

“Sylvain!” She blushes both annoyed and aroused at his teasing. Sylvain just winks at her back giving a gesture with his hand to keep their voices soft.

“Shhh… You will wake them.” He mutters tenderly lowering his head on her core. The door may conceal the sounds inside, but there is still a possibility of being heard. Byleth didn’t want her children to be disturbed just because of her (and her husband, who is also at fault).

He takes a long lick on her core and she tries her best to keep her voice down. Byleth silently wonders why she married such a tease, yet a smooth talker that manages to please her in the bedroom. Her thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly uses his fingers to stimulate her clit.

“Ah!” She gasps as he moves in deeper touching the most sensitive parts in her area. She covers her mouth as he continues to move his tongue inside her.

“Sylvain… I’ll… come.” She breathes as she moans from the pleasure he is giving her. Sylvain pauses earning her a whimper.

Sylvain looks at her with yearning “I want to see you come, Byleth.” As he dips down and continues to pleasure his beloved wife.

After gaining back the momentum with his tongue, Byleth clamps her mouth shut and inaudibly cries out as her dam bursts out of her making her husband lick her sweet juices.

“Best dessert ever.” He wipes his face with his fingers and he sucks them in his mouth.

“Want to taste?” He brushes Byleth’s teary eyes and removes her hands from her mouth.

He then intertwines his hand with hers feeling the wedding ring on her finger. He remembers that after he placed it on her finger, he felt accomplished that he was able to turn his life around and be with the person he loved. He swore to himself that if she rejected him, he would have inherited the family business and marry a woman he doesn’t love. His father and childhood friends even told him that he will eventually flirt with another woman but they were all surprised that after the engagement he starts looking away from women, going home earlier, and spending time with Byleth. He smiles as he recounts his precious memories with her.

“Sylvain…” She breathes slowly as he kisses her deeply and passionately like how he did on their wedding night. After they broke from the kiss, Byleth places her finger on his lips and ruffles his hair with her other hand.

“But… I want the main course.” She jokes earning him a deep blush and she shifts their positions letting Sylvain lie back on the bed while she stays on top of him.

“That’s funny…” She sensually fondles his hard erection. “Mr. Flirt also wants the main course too.” She teases back.

“Byleth…” He gasps knowing that the tables turned on him this time.

“I love you, Byleth.” He places his hands on her hips as she uses both hands to stimulate his pleasure on his erection. Byleth leans closer to him and gives him a peck on the lips.

Without any words, they both understand what they both want.

Byleth aligns his aching cock to her core and he carefully slides in making his wife moan. When his girth is fully sheathed inside her, Byleth sets up a rhythm thrusting to him while Sylvain aids his wife securing her hips with his hands and matching her thrusts.

He enjoys the view from below seeing how wonderful her breasts bounce as he moves inside her, how erotic her body responses to him, and the way his wife frustratingly holds her gasps and moans as they move roughly together. He believes that she is too good for him. During the days of his university, he thinks of the boys in his class eyeing for her: the way Dimitri assists her in carrying the books to the library, the way Felix signed up to her archery class, the way Ashe visits her in the faculty room to ask for additional lessons on a certain topic, and the way Dedue brings her flowers on her birthday; yet she chose him, the notorious playboy in the university. He reminded himself how lucky he is to have her as he was brought back to reality when both their gasps become louder and they both come together. Byleth falling down on top of his body as his seed spills inside her.

They both pant in deep breaths as they recover their breathing. Sylvain strokes her hair lovingly relishing on the warmth they both share, not wanting to pull out yet.

Suddenly, Sylvain’s felt a little horrified that they forgot to use a condom.

“Hey Byleth… are you on the pill?” Sylvain asks feeling guilty and irresponsible. This isn’t the first time it happened after all.

“Crap…” She hisses expecting him to panic.

“We have done it again.” Sylvain nervously chuckles as he pulls out of her and letting her lay on the bed beside her.

“Ah… I’m sorry. I was so busy with work and we rarely do this ever since Symon was born.” Byleth sighs her mind still in a haze after sex as she tangles her hand in his. Sylvain sighs in relief that Byleth didn’t stir or get furious at him this time.

“Hehe~ Of course.” He mumbles feeling content. He doesn’t mind having another child _as long as it is with her and only her_.

“Symon is almost two so I think the age gap would be fine?” Sylvain smiles at her as she looks at him puzzled removing her hand from him.

“Age gap?” She asks confused.

“In case you get pregnant again.” This earned him another slap on the shoulder. Then to his fear, Byleth snaps out of her daze.

“You forgot to use the condoms!” She strangles him lightly as he puts his arms in front of her.

“I’m sorry! I’m REALLY sorry! It’s also my fault that I initiated sex!” He says admitting defeat as she releases him. Sylvain notices her moody demeanor since it was also _technically_ his fault when Selene was conceived by accident. Byleth wanted her second child when Maia was around 5 years old, but then when Maia turned 3 years old, Byleth was already pregnant with Selene.

“A-Anyway, H-How was your day, my most beautiful wife? Remember that I will be your knight in shining armor when the battle gets tough and the skies are grey!” Sylvain tries with flowery language as he manages to massage his neck and console his wife as she huffs at him.

“Oh… The meeting was tiring!” She makes an annoyed expression. “But I was promoted to be the team manager.”

“That’s awesome! I’m so proud of my wife!” Sylvain holds her cheek and gives a peck on her forehead.

“Tomorrow, we need to celebrate your promotion! I’ll make you a cake and maybe some cookies with the kids.” He mumbles as he says the sweetest words. Byleth remembers that he made the biggest cake when she finished her PhD studies and even brought a large banner on her graduation day that says “Congratulations to my beloved wife, Doc. Byleth Eisner Gautier” while carrying their first born child strapped to his chest.

Byleth blushes in response. Her husband always seems to make her annoyed and contented at the same time.

“The promotion also has a raise so I think it’s fine if we have another one.” She smiles warmly at him again causing his world to pause. _It was same smile she gave him when they got married._ He recalls the astonishing white gown that accentuates her body, holding the flowers he picked for her (and not Dedue!), the flowers tied on her hair, the way she says her vows with him on the altar, and especially the way she stood by the balcony the morning after consummating their marriage. He really can’t get enough of her.

“Byleth…” He climbs on top of her and she notices his erection spring back to life.

“S-Sylvain?!” She felt utterly confused but also turned on.

She thinks back to their first meeting when he had him as a student. He called her a beauty when she was still working as an assistant professor and as an archery instructor. She called him to the faculty room countless times trying to stop him from playing with other women. She persistently rejected his advances knowing his use of overly excessive flowery language and lies. One time, he mentioned that he wanted to visit a town nearby with a cute girl on his arm. She gave him a tease at first and said that he could consider it but eventually she was able to learn about his situation during that date: an arranged marriage, conflict with his brother, the family business, and his disgust with women. Byleth remembers her conflict on seeing him in class after she realizes that they spent more time together than her other students. She immediately switches her class to be away from him, but Sylvain comes by to her office and asks if he can move to her class. She rejects his offer with fear that she might fall in love with him… But unfortunately, she did after seeing him studiously studying in the library, getting good marks, spending his time away from women, and graduating with honors. He comes back a year later hoping to ask her out on a date, this time she gave in and dated the bloke. He ultimately became a loving househusband which he proudly says that it is his “destiny”.

She groans as this man really makes her feel two different sides at the same time. A sense of mixed negative and positive feelings coated with love, intimacy, and joy.

“I better make sure we have another one then.” He whispers to her ear as she comes back to reality.

Slowly, He positions his cock to her entrance and she softly gasps when he dips his two fingers in her core to prepare her.

“Already wet for me.” He removes his fingers covered in her juices. He licks them and she bucks her hips wanting the intimacy.

“Hmm… Sylvain…” She breathes deeply.

“Patience, my wife.” He laughs.

“Says the person who initiated the sex.” She replies mockingly earning him a growl. He immediately thrusts inside her making sure he fills her completely.

“Ah!” Byleth covers her mouth. Sylvain leans down on her and gives her a quick kiss.

“Sorry…” He strokes her cheek. “I know you are sensitive. I’ll be gentle.” However, Byleth places her hand on top of his. She feels his wedding ring on his finger remembering that her father gave it to her to give it to the person she loves the most. Byleth reminiscences to him calling out her name on their wedding night as he thrusts in her from behind their hands intertwining together adorned with their wedding rings.

“You can be rough, Sylvain. I like it.” She smiles looking at his eyes with desire.

“Byleth… You make me weak.” Sylvain blushes at her smile. _That same smile that makes him fall on his knees for her, over and over again._

He thrusts roughly into her again as they repeat the same rhythm. Despite Sylvain’s pleas for Byleth to be quiet, the bedroom was filled with soft moans and gasps.

“Ah… I love you… Sylvain…” Byleth quietly stutters as he thrusts into her.

Sweat on their bodies, silent pants, and sweet words filled the night until Byleth came for the third time followed by Sylvain.

“I love you, Byleth.” Sylvain kisses her cheek as he pulls out of her collapsing on the bed beside her.

Byleth snuggles closer to him feeling his seed drip down from her core. She slowly closes her legs together making sure it stays in her.

“Mmm… Let’s stay like this… for tonight.” She mutters as she closed her eyes. Sylvain lets his wife rest on his shoulder and he strokes her hair as they both fell asleep sated and satisfied.

…

As Sylvain vividly recounts his memory, His face suddenly turns a deep red.

“I had sex with her and then I dreamt about her. Dang, she drives me wild.” He looks away from his wife’s attractive body and stares at the clock.

‘10 more minutes?’ He contemplates as he laid back down spooning his wife (still asleep beside him).

 _‘A gorgeous wife with three beautiful children … and maybe another one on the way hopefully… What a life.’_ He smiles as he nuzzles closer to his wife who groggily wakes up to turn to him. They both share an embrace for a while…until a toddler’s cry was heard in the other room interrupting his moment.

 _‘He needs his milk’_ Sylvain thinks to himself as he was thankful that Symon didn’t cry last night.

Sylvain groans as he drags himself out of bed wearing his night slippers and putting on his sweat pants and shirt.

 _‘What a life indeed’_ He sighs and kisses the forehead of his wife earning a “Good morning” from her. He then proceeds to leave the room to comfort his third born child.


	2. They loved their children equally (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You get to meet the sweet babies:  
> Maia (7 years old)  
> Selene (4 years old)  
> Symon (1 year and 8 months old)
> 
> Selene's appearance is inspired by this art @ twitter:  
> https://twitter.com/_moofn/status/1234021288865173505?s=20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick summary/notes of the Character’s background in this Alternate Universe
> 
> Byleth- Professor of Political Science and History, also an archery instructor in elected units.
> 
> Sylvain- graduated Business Management with honors; househusband to three beautiful children and Works Part-time at the University cafe.
> 
> Dimitri- Graduated Political Science with high honors; Former President of the archery club; finished his master’s degree in politics and government; currently runs as a cabinet member in the Fódlan government. He strongly holds oppositional views with Edelgard in the government. He joins the political party of the Blue Lions. He is also the step brother of Edelgard.
> 
> Edelgard- Graduated Political Science with high honors; Former president of the Chess club; Licensed Lawyer (also graduated with honors); currently runs as a cabinet member in the Fódlan government. As a child, Edelgard’s father is a politician that had a scandalous affair with different women resulting in a divorce between her father and mother. After her father won the custody case, Edelgard’s mother married Dimitri’s father. Edelgard occasionally visits her mother after the divorce settlement and she forms a rivalry with Dimitri. Edelgard later joins the political party of the Black Eagles that rivals Dimitri’s political party.
> 
> Felix- former active member of the archery club; took up Business Management (after being forced to run the family business because of his brother’s death), but changed his mind and graduated with the degree of Physical Therapy and later a Master’s degree; wanted to join the army but Annette convinces him to become an assistant professor while taking up his PhD. Felix currently teaches archery and personal training and he is also Byleth’s colleague.
> 
> Annette- Graduated in Chemistry with honors; now a professor and Felix’s closest colleague. She became a professor 5 years before Felix. Her students get nervous when she handles the chemicals during laboratory sessions. Rumors say that she is dating Felix.
> 
> Mercedes- Graduated Business Management (forced by her step father), but took a short course in Education after moving out her step father’s place; Opens a small preschool nearby Sylvain and Byleth’s home. Selene is a student in her school.
> 
> Emile (Jeritza)- Ex-convict (Due to assaulting his father), later finished therapy and works with his half-sister, Mercedes, as a caretaker of the school (not a teacher). Despite his criminal record, the children enjoy his company.
> 
> Ingrid- Graduated Accounting (Minor in Economics); Purchases the Gautier family business and is currently running it with her husband, Ashe.
> 
> Ashe- Graduated Business Management with an awarded scholarship from Lonato Foundation. He met Ingrid in Byleth’s archery class and later marries her. They now run the former Gautier family business.
> 
> Dedue- Graduated Political Science with Dimitri. Dimitri’s family sponsored his education. Runs a university café with Lysithea. He is Sylvain’s boss.
> 
> Lysithea- Graduated in Chemistry, but followed her passion of making sweets. She encounters Dedue’s passion in cooking when they both joined the archery club. They become good friends and manage the University Café. She is Sylvain’s boss.
> 
> Miklan- Sylvain’s estranged brother. At 16 years old, He left the family due to his parent’s favoritism to Sylvain’s better academic achievement. Sylvain’s last memory of his brother is when he visited him when Miklan was serving his time in prison due to several cases of burglary and theft. Sylvain heard Miklan was recently released but he made the decision not to contact him anymore. He hopes that Miklan can restart his life for the better.

…

_Sylvain and Byleth both loved their children equally regardless of..._

…

Sylvain opens up the curtains in the house to allow the sun shine inside. He smiles as he observes how simple and sweet his home became after they moved in filling it with warm memories of his family. He remembers living in a one bedroom apartment with Byleth and baby Maia. Byleth was recently adjusting to her new workload after finishing her PhD and they initially planned to have another baby when Maia turns five. However, life did not go as planned when Byleth unexpectedly became pregnant with Selene. Coincidentally, Dimitri wanted to sell a property of his family for additional funding for his political campaign and this lucky house was offered to Byleth for a small discount that she can afford.

He grins happily as he opens the door to his youngest son's room.

“Papa! Papa!” Symon opens up his arms wide when he sees Sylvain enter the room. The young boy is almost 2 years old. Sylvain takes pride on the child’s inherited ‘Gautier’ colored hairstyle but also got his green colored eyes from his mother.

“How’s little Symon? Had a bad dream?” Sylvain scoops the toddler up from the crib and Symon straightaway snuggles to him giggling with elation from the warmth of his father. Sylvain then finally solves the problem with Symon’s previous crying. There was a foul smell coming from the young boy.

“Time for a nappy change.” He pats the young boy as he proceeds to do his ‘parental duties’.

While changing his son’s nappies, Sylvain sang some nursery rhymes to ease the young boy’s sobs from his discomfort and allowing the boy to stop crying and starts to gabble along some of the words from the rhyme.

“There, There, nice and happy aren’t you?” He straps the young boy’s nappy securely and picked him up resting the boy near his chest. He feels that Symon is definitely getting heavier and taller. He glances around his crib and mentally tells himself he has to go drop by the furniture store to buy a proper bed for his son soon.

“Daddy…” There was soft voice near the entrance of Symon’s room. An older child peeks behind the door slowly.

“Good Morning Selene.” Sylvain comes over to the door to greet his second child. She cuddles her father on his hips. Touched by his child’s small gesture of affection, Sylvain carries her alongside Symon on his other hand.

“Good Morning, Symon.” Selene grips the small hand of her younger brother.

“Aw!” Symon retracts his hand. “Hmph!” The young toddler huffed turning away from his sister’s ‘heavy’ hands.

“You have to be gentle, Selene. Symon is just a baby.” Sylvain meets the eyes of his daughter as she giggles.

“Sorry Daddy. I’ll be careful!” She smiles at him. Sylvain melted at her smile. He couldn’t say no to those wonderful eyes that they got from their mother.

“Daddy! Good Morning!” Maia rushes inside the room to hug her father.

“Hello Maia, Good morning. You are up early today.” Sylvain puts down Selene and leans down to kiss Maia on the forehead. He really loves the company of his daughters and they are definitely ‘Daddy’s little girls’ since they both look like their mother only their hair seems to stick out on top of their heads similar to his hair.

“Hehe~ Mommy woke me up.” Maia laughs as she calls for her mother to enter the room.

“Hello Papa.” Byleth walks in wearing one of his shirts and pairing it with her shorts causing Sylvain to blush remembering their previous tryst. Byleth enjoys the response of her husband and moves closer to adjust his shirt that was folded up over his belly button due to carrying Symon. When it comes to their children, Sylvain and Byleth would sometimes call each other “Papa and Mama” instead of their names.

“Hello Symon.” Byleth takes the boy from Sylvain’s arms as she kisses his face.

“Baby Sylvain. So cute.” Byleth touches Symon’s nose with her nose and giggle to some extent causing the toddler to be amused and adored with his own mother. Just a few years ago, when Byleth was still pregnant with Symon, Byleth expresses her neediness to Sylvain that she wanted a boy that looks like him so she can have a ‘ _baby Sylvain_ ’. Sylvain was jealous at first, but after seeing his son on Byleth’s arms and observing his features that the baby inherited most of his looks, he felt joy all over again.

“How about us?” Sylvain and Byleth looked down to see both Maia and Selene giving the most envious reactions yet their faces showed the most adorable face where their parents could not resist chuckling.

“Come here!” Without prior notice, Sylvain stretches out his arms and making sure he brings everyone into a family hug. The family fell back on the floor laughing and tickling each other.

“Hahaha! Daddy!” Selene cackles as Sylvain tickles her.

“Dad! Tickle mommy too!” Maia chuckles as the onslaught of tickles continued.

“Sylvain!” Byleth joins in on the fun tickling both her husband and children.

“Hey! You asked for it!” Sylvain excitedly continues his ‘ambush’ on his wife and children.

The best reaction was their toddler, Symon, who screeched at the top of his lungs in delight.

**_“PAAAA! PAAA!!!!”_ **

This caused everyone to laugh louder as they all catch for air from the aftermath of Sylvain’s tickles.

“Alright, Alright! We all woke up early today. I’ll prepare the breakfast. You should take a good shower before going to school.” He then turns to his wife. “We have to get ready for work too!”

Sylvain picks up Symon from the floor and goes outside the room leaving the three people hear his footsteps going down the staircase.

…

Byleth then pats Maia and Selene’s head tenderly. “Let’s go take a nice shower before going to school.” She takes both their hands and leads them to the bathroom to have a nice warm bath.

Later, Byleth dries both her daughters’ hair and helps them dress up. While Maia is old enough to dress herself, she could not reach for the back zipper on her dress allowing her mother to assist her while Selene tries her best to button her preschool apron since she is required to wear her preschool apron on top of her clothes.

After brushing their hair, Byleth beams as she admired the cute outfits that compliment her two daughters. Selene’s simple blue checkered dress was given by Felix although she caught Annette with Felix shopping for children’s clothes before Selene’s fourth birthday. The two professors tried their best to be discreet but she already has a hunch between those two. Two weeks ago, Ashe and Ingrid gifted a long white collared dress full of candy patterns on Maia’s seventh birthday.

“You two look so pretty. Let mommy take a good picture.” She takes out her phone while Maia rushes closer to Selene putting an arm around her to pose for the picture. Selene just grins with the widest smile as Byleth took a picture of the two of them.

“So cute…” Byleth silently smiles as she reminds herself to print the picture to hang in her workplace.

…

The three ladies were welcomed by a simple healthy breakfast of Spinach, eggs, and oatmeal.

“Ah my beautiful ladies are refreshed. Time to eat.” Sylvain smiles as he put a bowl of soft food for Symon sitting in a baby stool. Symon independently feeds himself. Even though his bib gets quite messy, Sylvain is proud that his son learned to feed on his own now.

Sylvain then notices his wife as she gets up from the dinner table to refill her water. He blushes as he observes her tight pencil skirt and a collared jacket that brings out her build and Sylvain can’t help but admire his gorgeous wife.

“Papa? Sylvain?” Byleth calls him back from his trace.

“Yes, my love?” He grins causing her to react to his words bashfully with her face turning slightly reddish.

“Selene wants to fix her hair. You are honestly better than me. Can you do it instead of me?” She asks as he nods in response then taking the young girl in his lap as he takes the hair scrunchie and brush from her hands to make pigtails on her (as Selene’s request after watching an ad featuring the model named Hilda). Byleth watches amused that Sylvain learned this from his childhood friend, Felix. Felix did have long and luscious hair and he often tied it up and it looked quite neat. Sylvain mentions how Felix used to get frustrated with him when he first tried it on the 2 year old Maia causing the girl to cry from Sylvain’s unintentional painful treatment on her hair. Fortunately, Annette ‘translates’ what Felix meant to say and it turned out well after a few tries.

After eating a ‘good’ breakfast, Byleth gets ready to go to work. She kisses her children and finally her husband as she walks outside though Sylvain rushes outside to give her a peck on the lips _again_. He usually makes her a packed lunch but today, Sylvain has a part time job so he is going see her later at the famous University café.

After Maia and Selene helps Sylvain wash the dishes, he straps Symon on a baby carrier on his chest and takes the children to school making sure that they bring their packed lunches and backpacks. He first drops off Maia in her primary school but Maia comes rushing back and gives her father and sister a quick peck on the cheek (she pats her brother’s head too) before turning back to greet her teachers.

…

Selene hugs Sylvain’s waist as she arrived in the preschool greeted by Sylvain’s former classmate, Mercedes.

“See you later, Daddy.” Selene grips tightly on his shirt as Mercedes greeted her warmly.

“Hello Selene, so nice to see you again.” Mercedes smiles as she looked around to greet the other students as well.

“Hello Ms. Mercedes.” Selene waves bashfully back to one of her teachers.

“Nice to see you, Mr. Gautier. Lovely weather today isn’t it?” Mercedes teases a bit with her old classmate.

“Oh please, forget the formalities. Also, I hope you are doing well. My daughter really adores your brother, you know.” This causes Mercedes to laugh a bit while Sylvain sighs as Selene tugs his shirt below.

Selene seems a little nervous since there was an incident where the fire alarm rang and Selene was terrified of the sound. Sylvain knew about this and knelt down to kiss her forehead.

“Take care at school, beautiful. You are a strong girl, stronger than any knight in the battlefield. Daddy, will see you later so show me your brave face.” This flowery language seems to work on the girl and she nods slightly trying her best to be courageous.

He noticed Mercedes’ brother, Emile, holding the gate and aloofly greeting Selene.

“Hello Selene, I’ll take care of the gates today as well so no scary person may enter. If you hear the fire alarm, I will make sure you get out the building safely from the fire.” Selene nods smiling back at him.

“Thank you, Mr. Emile.” She nods.

“Good.” Emile replies. He says his words so monotone that Sylvain wondered why the children enjoy the company of this man.

“Daddy… Pick me up first than Maia, please?” She pleaded as she holds Sylvain’s hand. There is a small rivalry between Maia and Selene that reminds him of his relationship with his brother, Miklan. To this extent, Sylvain tries his best to treat them equally with all his love and support.

“Maia’s in primary school. She will be home later than you. When you get to primary school, I will pick the both of you together.” He pats her head as she lets go of his hand seemingly satisfied to his response. Thankfully, his daughters had a healthy relationship with each other as he recalled them playing together often and with evidence of smiling pictures in his phone.

He watches as Selene takes the hand of Mercedes to be led inside and Sylvain looks down on his son who is fast asleep in his chest. “It’s you and me now, buddy.” He smiles as he walks back home.

…

Sylvain opens the Television and lays his son in a sleeping mattress. The program showed a political debate between the three political parties: Golden Deer, Blue Lions, and the Black Eagle. Dimitri comes to the stage discussing about the rights of children and the funding of public schools around Fódlan. Edelgard quickly objects to his views mentioning the education system of Brigid uses an equal and permanent system that caters to different kinds of children. The representative of the Golder Deer tried to balance out both sides, yet the debate goes on. Sylvain grew tired of watching his former classmates’ debates. _‘I mean even in the university they were also like that’_.

He tried to cool off his mind and decides to take a bath before he goes to his part-time job.

When he comes back, he sees his son yawning waking from his short nap.

“Awake now?” He pats the boys back as Symon rubs his eyes.

“Yes papa…” Symon yawns again and opening his eyes to turn to his dad.

“I’ll be going to work now. You get to see Ignatz, Raphael, and the others.” He says as his son opens his arms to him.

“Ignatz! Raphael!” His son widely smiles in satisfaction excited to meet Sylvain’s colleagues.

“Let’s go to work, yeah?” He carries him into his arms and Symon happily replies with “Go Work!”

…

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Sylvain works part-time in a café near the University of Garreg Mach. His former classmates, Dedue and Lysithea, run the café as the owners and managers. Sylvain finds it amusing when they both allow him to bring his children to work with the condition that they are well behaved and stimulated with baby toys in the quiet area of the office. Perhaps it is the way he uses flowery language on his customers and to the managers (but it doesn’t work with Lysithea and Dedue, they only allowed him because they enjoy the company of his sweet children). Sylvain recalls bringing Maia and later Selena as a baby and how they often slept while being strapped on his chest as he serves people desserts and take away coffee. Though, Sylvain worries that his son is getting older and more mobile now. He hopes that in a few months, he can leave his son in the pre-nursery class soon but he has mixed feelings because he would feel lonelier without children in the house.

Sylvain enters the office and greets Ignatz who is working from the cafe office. Ignatz greets him back and also to Symon.

“Hello Symon. How are you today?” Ignatz smiles at him and goes back to type in the computer.

“Hi Ignatz!” Symon smiles back as Sylvain left him on the floor’s soft mat.

Ignatz replaced the previous employee, Petra, who needed to return to Brigid. Petra was patient and brought exotic children’s materials (from Brigid) to lend to Symon (and previously Selene), but Symon also enjoyed his time with Ignatz. Since Ignatz brings art materials to work and reserves the toxic free and washable ones for Symon to ‘paint’ with them. The other employee, Raphael, was also very enthusiastic to play with Symon during his spare time.

“Symon! How are ya buddy? Are you eating well?” Raphael sits down beside the toddler.

“Yes, I eat!” Symon pats his tummy in response causing Raphael to giggle in excitement. A few moments later Symon stands up and goes after Raphael holding pants excitedly.

“Hahaha! A few months ago… you used to be so small!” Raphael looked astonished on how fast children grow while he delightedly plays with the soft rope to push and pull with the young boy.

Sylvain watches the two have a good conversation while he wears puts on his work apron.

The door then opens revealing Dedue in a work apron. Raphael immediately stands up upon seeing his boss and tells Symon that he will be seeing him soon then returning to his desk. Luckily, Dedue didn’t mind and looks around the room to spot if the specific ‘ _lover boy_ ’ is present today.

“Sylvain, your wife is here. Oh…” He stops and stares down at the young boy in front of him. “Your mommy is here.” He says nonchalantly and goes back outside.

Upon hearing the word ‘mommy’, Symon knew who he needed to expect.

“Mama is here!” Symon runs to his father quickly opening his arms to him.

“Come on Symon… You can already walk!” Sylvain sighs seeing his son wanting to be carried. Sylvain remembers that Byleth used to scold him a lot when he often carried his children during their early years. He feels a little guilty that when Maia turned seven she was too big and heavy to carry. He had to read her a storybook on “ _How much I love you_ ” explaining that no matter how much she grows he would always hold her very precious in his heart. Eventually, he gives in and carries his son outside the office.

He stops her in line and approaches her. “Hey beautiful, I owe you the pleasure of serving you today. What are you ordering today?” He grins as Byleth looked unfazed with his sweet use of words.

“Do you say this to every customer?” Byleth wonders as she takes Symon from his arms.

“You know I only say the sweetest and most tender words to my beloved wife.” He smirks but then realizes that Byleth ignores him.

“Awww baby Sylvain! Don’t be like your daddy, okay?” Byleth pampers the toddler with soft kisses.

“Okay mama! Not like daddy!” Symon replies seemingly knowing the words Byleth tells him.

“H-Hey! B-Byleth!” Sylvain blushes embarrassed that not only Byleth’s students are in the café but also his co-workers giggling from behind the counter looking at them.

He hears whispers of _“Is that Professor Byleth and her husband?”_

_“I heard that he dated a lot of women…”_

_“They have a kid now… I wonder if he might have other children outside marriage.”_

Sylvain looks away from his wife ashamed of his past life before he met her. Byleth slowly gives him a grin and takes his hand.

“Come on Sylvain. You don’t need to listen to them. I know what you are.” And she comes closer to his ear. “Even in the bedroom.” She teasingly whispers to his ear giving him a shiver. She really knows how to drive him insane.

“Let’s eat then.” She touches her son’s nose with her finger making the boy laugh.

“Hungry!” Symon rubs his tummy allowing Byleth to feel small a bundle of joy distracting her from the stress of her workplace. This left Sylvain blushing as he struggles to take his wife’s order.

Deep inside he knew that his wife would continue to tease him during their lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter... Sylvain enjoys his lunch with his son and wife and Daddy! Sylvain picks up his daughters from school (Fluff and no smut).  
> Next Next Chapter...maybe some smut ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> Thank you for reading.  
> I appreciate any feedback.


	3. They loved their children equally (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter contains mentions of post-traumatic disorder relating to implied sexual, verbal, and physical abuse with Sylvain’s past.  
> Please be cautious when reading.
> 
> *PDA stands for Public Display of Affection/s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick summary of characters that appear/mentioned in the story
> 
> Leonie – She is a Physical Education teacher in Garreg Mach Primary School. She is the adviser and teacher of Maia. Byleth’s father was her instructor in archery many years ago.
> 
> Claude- Graduated Political Science at Almyra University and finished his master’s degree in politics and government at Garreg Mach University; he is also Dimitri’s classmate. He is currently running as a cabinet member in the Fódlan government. Even with little experience in the government, rumors say he is winning his campaign. 
> 
> Ingrid- As an only child, the family entrusted her with the family business as long as she marries from a wealthy family. She was supposed to be married to Glenn (Felix’s brother) until his untimely death. She was then arranged to marry Sylvain. After Sylvain tells her that he intends to marry Byleth, Ingrid buys his family business and merges it with her business. After she marries Ashe, the couple agreed not to have any children due to their busy lifestyle. 
> 
> Ashe- lived in an orphanage with his younger siblings until they were adopted and put into a home. Ashe’s family could not afford his university fees but Ashe was given a scholarship. He met Ingrid and had a shared interest with Classic Literature. They slowly fell in love. Despite not owning a business and not gaining the blessing of Ingrid’s father, Ingrid marries him and Ashe proved himself to Ingrid’s family that he is capable of running the business with her. 
> 
> Dimitri- Mayor of Fhirdiad. He is running against Claude and Edelgard in the government.
> 
> Ferdinand- He is a politician joining the Political party of the Black Eagles. He married a famous actress named, Dorothea. They have a son named, Ferdinand Jr. who is the classmate of Maia.

Meanwhile inside the office, Lysithea and Dedue are currently watching the continued political debate between the three political houses regarding the public funding of schools around Fódlan.

“Mr. Blaiddyd, I heard you still have possession of several properties around Fódlan. As such, it would deem very irresponsible if the lands are still under your name. There would be a conflict of interest between government officials and your personal private funding. Do you think the people of Fódlan would attest to such a thing as a person like you running for cabinet member?” Edelgard’s strong speech and quick attack to the young politician is currently broadcasted on live stream and televisions nationwide.

“Ms. Hresvelg, you have to take note that private funding is deemed advantageous to fund materials and support where the public funding could not afford. If the taxes could be raised, we can use the funding of private schools. Also, these accusations are not of the interest of the state. It hurts me that personal accusations only provide scandals on politicians that have good intentions to the country.” Dimitri is shown closing his fists in irritation.

Dimitri takes a deep breath trying to calm himself.

“I would like to say that my properties… **I SOLD EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM!** ” Dimitri then bangs the table in frustration as the political debate goes on.

“Mr. BLAIDDYD!” Edelgard’s brasher voice is heard in the broadcast following Dimitri’s outburst.

“There they go again.” Lysithea sighs while sympathizing with the Golden Deer representative, Claude, who is trying to calm the two sides.

Dedue takes a long and deep sigh seeing his best friend in the computer. He definitely would be visiting his place soon to have a good chat with him.

…

In the café, Sylvain, Byleth and Symon spend a quiet time eating their lunch. Sylvain feels anxious because many students come by to this café and often see them eat together.

“What’s wrong, my love?” Byleth teases as she places the bib on her son.

“N-Nothing. You just look absolutely gorgeous.” Sylvain smiles nervously taking a sip of water.

“Sylvain…” Byleth glances at him causing him to cough on his water. “Tell me the truth.” She says calmly and Sylvain couldn’t resist her bright beautiful eyes.

“I-I feel that I don’t deserve you. You could have married Dimitri or even Dedue…” Sylvain looks away a little embarrassed for telling this to Byleth for so many times.

“So you want a divorce?” Byleth teased pretending to be sad and allowing her son feed himself with some mashed potato.

“N-No! Why would I--” Sylvain stood up causing a small commotion in the café to look at him and making Byleth and her son surprised.

“S-Sorry.” Sylvain sits down in defeat with her teasing. “I get nervous when I see you near the university. I don’t want your students to spread bad rumors about you because of me.” He confesses knowing his reputation of him during his university days. He was once mentioned in a newspaper (years ago) about almost getting beaten by a girl’s father because he dated a girl back in the university. He grimaces that his face was even on the cover causing another trip to Byleth’s office. Student-Teacher relations were also sensitive in the university which makes him worry about him and Byleth getting together.

“Sylvain, even after 8 years of marriage. You still worry about us.” Byleth chuckles a bit. “Why do you think that you don’t deserve me? You should not think that way.” She closes her hands together massaging the wedding ring on her finger.

“You used to flirt with almost every girl in the campus, I also heard of your late night escapades in bars or night clubs, you even skipped most of your professor’s other classes. After we got married, you mostly cook, clean, and take care of our children when I am away at work. I couldn’t ask for a better husband and father of my children.” Byleth blushes and gives an intentional cough for saying those sweet words to her husband.

“You changed significantly and it made me more in love with you. So never mind the university students … they all know I’m married to you. Isn't that already proof that you have become a better person?” She smiles warmly at him giving him many memorable flashbacks with her. He was about to reply when Symon suddenly squirmed.

“Mama! Papa! Make love!” Symon mentions as Byleth and Sylvain blush from sudden embarrassment.

“S-Sylvain… What are you teaching our son?” Byleth asks ready to reprimand him.

“N-No! No! He got it from Claude! I swear! Don’t believe me? You can check Claude’s video campaign online!” Sylvain puts his hands up hoping that his wife believes him.

 _“Make love not war.”_ Was an ad campaign speech from Claude. Symon probably heard it in the television at home. Sylvain follows Symon’s gaze looking outside the window and he smiles when he sees a large Billboard of Claude with the slogan and hearts surrounding the politician. He motions Byleth to look outside and to her relief it was only Claude’s influence.

After the short lunch, Byleth wipes the food from Symon’s mouth and fixes her shoulder bag full of books to prepare to leave the café.

“See you later, my love.” Sylvain smiles as he grabs Symon from his seat and holds him in his arms. He was about to kiss her at the cheek but his wife takes the initiative and kisses him on the lips. Byleth doesn’t like PDA (and Sylvain likes it a lot) but she decides to kiss him for how grateful she is for him.

“Thank you for breaking the cycle of abuse, my love.” She smiles and strokes his cheek after the kiss.

Sylvain’s face became beet red but then Symon pushes his father’s face away from his mother and tells them “Symon, kiss too!” which made his mother and father kiss him on both cheeks.

Felix walks by the café with Annette and sees the ‘ _PDA couple (with child)_ ’ and he sighs.

“Aww so sweet!” Annette blushes as she saw them too.

“We better get back at Byleth for teasing us about finding us shopping with Selene’s dress.” She mentions to Felix making him smile.

As Byleth leaves the café, Sylvain goes back to work leaving the child with his trusted colleagues: Ignatz and Raphael in the office (and often coming back to check on him). When Symon starts crying, Sylvain had to strap his son on his chest while working to calm the toddler to sleep.

…

After work, Sylvain gets a phone call from his childhood friend, Ingrid. She wanted him to visit her in the office. Sylvain dreaded it when Ingrid told him to visit the building where his family business used to be.

Sylvain arrives at the building looking at it from outside. He remembers all the trauma, doubt, resentment, and self-worth came from an agonizing memory in that same building. He recounts the memories of different women, his brother physically hurting him, the laughter of his parents when he told them he felt abused… The way they…

“Daddy?”

Symon looks at him confused but it made Sylvain snap out of it. He kisses the toddler to thank him that his children and wife are his world now and it encourages him to enter the building.

He felt refreshed after seeing that the people who used to work there are no more. He relaxed at the sight of new people seeing Symon and telling him how adorable his son is.

…

“Hello Sylvain, How are you? Ingrid told me you’ll come by today.” He is greeted by Ashe wearing a formal suit after he went out of the elevator.

“Thanks Ashe. I’m doing great. How are you and Ingrid?” Sylvain smiles and shakes his hand.

“Ah, I’m doing great, Thank you. The office is livelier than ever with her here.” Ashe blushes still in the bliss of marriage life. “Symon is looking pretty happy today.” Ashe smiles as he holds the child’s hand making Symon study the man curiously. Ashe and Ingrid met Symon a few times before but Symon often forgets them since he doesn’t see them every day.

“Oh Sylvain, glad that you are here. Come inside the office, please. I need to discuss with you something.” Ingrid calls from behind Ashe waving at Sylvain.

Ashe gently takes Symon from Sylvain as Ingrid gestures for Sylvain to go inside her office. Upon entering the room, Ingrid locks the door and closes the shades so nobody can see what is going on inside causing Sylvain to sweat as he instinctively put his hands up after seeing how dark the room got.

“Hey! Hey! Ingrid! I know that work makes you stressed, and that you used to be my ex-fiancée. I want to tell you that I’m married and a lovers tryst here in your office will cause a scandal AND IN NO WAY want to sleep with any woman ever again, except for my beautiful wife!”

Ingrid punches him in annoyance. “SYLVAIN! I know that you had problems with your father’s colleagues long ago, but I’m NOT that type of woman! AND I’M ALSO MARRIED!” Ingrid sighs looking at her childhood friend. This office gave him a lot of trauma after all. When Sylvain was a child, Sylvain’s father had a lot of women work in this office and some of them would often call him inside… and well, do _things_ to him.

Ingrid looks at Sylvain seeing how he rubs his face on where Ingrid punched him. She felt sorry for him. “I’m sorry for bringing you here.” Ingrid looked down dejectedly forgetting about the trauma Sylvain suffered in this very room.

“No it’s fine.” Sylvain looks away. “It does bring back bad memories although I heard from Dimitri that they are found guilty and are serving their sentence now.” Before he married Byleth, Felix and Dimitri was able to track down the women and brought them to court.

“I need to learn how to live my life better. Staying in the past won’t help me at all…” Sylvain grins a bit trying to hide his pain. Sylvain remembers the way Miklan used to drag him into the office and leave him there with these horrible women. Sylvain recalls grabbing the door and crying out to his brother hearing Miklan snicker from the other side holding the door in place as the woman stepped closer to him.

“Anyway… why did you call me here?” He looks back at his childhood friend.

“Sylvain, your brother came by the office last week.” Ingrid frowns worried for him and Sylvain’s eyes widen.

“What did he say, Ingrid?” Sylvain asks curious about his older brother.

“He… was looking for you.” She said softly. “But I told him that the Gautier business is no more.”

“Good. I wanted him to know the outcome of what this business became.” Sylvain sighs putting his hands at the back of his head and Ingrid nods.

“And he brought me this.” Ingrid takes out a key and uses it to open the safe. She took out a box with several papers containing bank letters and notes of hush money given to politicians several years ago.

“It turns out your brother wanted you to turn against your father and mother.” She says while distributing the papers on the desk. “I told him that you sold the rights of the business to me and that I intend to change it. He just grumbled and left.”

“Ah that’s great, Ingrid. I’m proud of you.” Sylvain smiles as he relaxes.

“I also want to thank you for helping me all these years.” Ingrid nods. “After you graduated, I really thought you were going to work in the family business.”

“Yeah? I wasn’t intending to. I lost contact with my parents after I gave the business to you. I heard that my father and mother are enjoying their retirement in Sreng, so to speak.” Sylvain mentions making them both laugh.

“Oh and…” Ingrid flicks a light switch and all kinds of colors brightened the dark room. There was a set of jubilant decorations around the once terrible office that made Sylvain’s eyes widen.

“You wife told me to decorate this filthy room. She came here yesterday after I told her about your brother. She told me that I should tell you to come here.” Ingrid smiles as she opens a drawer and takes out a large picture frame.

“Your wife stayed pretty late too.” Ingrid looked around admiring the delicate decorations that Byleth, Ashe and some office workers made in her office. Sylvain blushes remembering that Byleth told him that she would be late from work yesterday but it turns out she was decorating this office room.

“Oh and take this. The Galatea business specializes in making and distributing paper. So it’s the least I could do. Byleth requested this to be printed too.” Ingrid hands him a portrait of him and Byleth together. Sylvain wanted to add a portrait of him in his wife at home since it was replaced with their children’s pictures around the living room.

“Ingrid…” Sylvain wipes his eyes trying his best not to cry as he holds the portrait of him and his wife.

“Come here you grandma lover!” Ingrid pulls him into a tight hug.

“H-Hey, I was only eight years old!” Sylvain laughs as he returned the hug.

Ashe and Symon suddenly enter the room to see the childhood friends hugging.

“Symon, look my wife’s hugging your father!” Ashe teases causing Ingrid to punch Sylvain _again_.

…

“Let us take you home. It must be tiring for you to carry your son in the bus.” Ashe offers before Sylvain was about to leave the office.

“Oh, it’s fine. The bus passes by Maia and Selene’s school.” Sylvain replies fixing the straps of the baby carrier on his body.

“I insist! I can help you pick up your daughters too. You are also carrying that heavy portrait.” Ashe begs making Sylvain accept.

While Ashe drives going to Selene’s school, Ashe gives a small chat to Sylvain.

“I never really got to tell you this…but after you sold the company to my wife, I was really grateful. My wife is a capable person despite her father believing that men should be taking the business until now.” Ashe enjoys looking at the mirror seeing how amused Symon stares at the window.

“I didn’t do much…” Sylvain smiles as he clips the seat belt on his son.

“No… When you told us that you proposed to Byleth, Ingrid doubted you at first. Then, I saw the way you stood in front of everyone in the office telling them how incapable they are for not accepting Ingrid to be taking the business. Even your parents were horrified.” Ashe laughs as he turns the car to a corner.

“It made me realize that I need to work hard to be with the person I love.” Ashe blushes taking a glance at Ingrid who is currently speechless at her husband’s bold statement.

“Ashe… Don’t say mushy things like that. It’s embarrassing.” Ingrid looks away shyly while Sylvain laughs.

“Haha.” Ashe stutters while parking the car to the side. “Sylvain, we are at Selene’s school.”

Sylvain goes down from the car and sees her daughter from the gate and upon seeing her father she gave out the brightest of smiles.

“Ms. Mercedes! Mr. Emile! Daddy is here!” Selene screams excited to see her father. Emile opens the gate letting Selene ran up to her father who gladly picks her up in his arms.

“Daddy!” Selene kisses his cheek allowing Sylvain to kiss her forehead.

“How’s my beautiful girl?” Sylvain walks over to Mercedes who gives him Selene’s cute backpack.

“So happy to see you!” Selene hugs him affectionately. The two thanked Mercedes and Emile before going inside the car.

Selene upon entering the car excitedly kisses her brother on the cheek. She does the same for Ingrid and Ashe making the couple blush as Sylvain jokes about the possibility if they ever chose to have children it would be such a mess just like him and Byleth.

…

When the car drops by Maia’s school, Sylvain already sees Leonie outside waiting for him.

“Oh no…” Sylvain thought to himself. Seeing Leonie (Maia’s class teacher) means trouble.

“Mr. Gautier, your daughter really likes this boy named Ferdinand (Jr.). They have been calling each other ‘my love’ ever since this morning.” Sylvain gulped. This isn’t the first time it happened. He didn’t want Maia to turn out to be such a flirt growing up. He knew that the father of the boy is known for his exquisite love for his wife as their wedding was live streamed online. In Sylvain’s case, he recalls calling Byleth ‘my love’ at home several times enough for the children to hear it and feeling embarrassed that he often kisses his wife at home as well.

“They even made each other ‘wedding rings’.” Sylvain gasped as his world came crashing down imagining his daughter getting married to a Ferdinand look alike just the same as watching the live streams of the extravagant politician and his wife.

“They told me they were playing ‘House’ and Maia was the mother and Ferdinand was the father.” Sylvain took a sigh of relief.

“Then what’s the problem?” He looks at her weirdly wondering why Leonie had to talk to him.

“Maia took these from the house.” Leonie takes out a pair of expensive earrings from her purse as well as a lipstick owned by Byleth. “I think these are yours. I just want to let you know to be careful. These children usually take it to school without their parents knowing and it might become a lost item.” Leonie smiles as Sylvain careful puts them in his pocket (he will put them inside his bag once he gets in the car). Nevertheless, he thanks Leonie for continuing to look out for his daughter.

“Maia, time to go home!” Leonie calls to the children running around the playground. Maia stops running with her friend, Ferdinand, and she smiles when she saw her father outside.

“Bye Ferdinand, see you tomorrow!” Maia runs inside the school to take her backpack and rushes outside to her father.

“DAAADDDDDY!” She screams brasher than her sister, Selene.

Sylvain gives her a warm hug and kisses her cheek.

“I missed you, my beautiful.” He pats her head and takes her inside the car. Maia hugs Selene and Symon as she goes inside.

…

Ashe and Ingrid wave goodbye as Sylvain and the children enter the house. Ashe turns the wheel to continue driving back to the road.

“Ashe, I’m thankful that Sylvain gave me the business. I wouldn’t be able to marry you.” Ingrid smiles as Ashe’s eyes focus on the road. When the car arrived back to their home, Ingrid places her hand on top of Ashe. This causes him to stop on taking away his seat belt.

“Ashe, I know we didn’t want to have children but after Sylvain and Byleth showed me that life did not go as planned… I think a little risk wouldn’t be too bad.” Ingrid smiles nervously.

Ashe turns his head as his eyes widen seeing Ingrid stroking her stomach. Ashe cheeks suddenly went to a light color of pink and he grasps her hand tightly.

“I must steel myself.” Ashe chuckles as Ingrid joins in with him.

…

When Byleth arrives home, the children were watching the news where Dimitri was called to be interviewed about his planned policies if he wins the elections. Maia took a liking to him ever since he gifted her a bicycle. Byleth went over to them and upon seeing their mother, they ran up to her and gave her a kiss. Byleth then goes over to the kitchen and kisses her husband discreetly while he was cooking (making sure the children won’t see).

The table was served with another balanced meal of vegetables and fish. The family ate the meal favorably enjoying the way Sylvain cooks. Soon, the children were seated by the living room and drawing some art while their parents wash the dishes.

“I’m going to draw daddy.” Selene smiles as she takes the black crayon to draw the face of her father.

“I’m also going to draw daddy! My drawing will be better than Selene!” Maia huffs confident of outshining her sister.

“No! I’ll be better!” Selene retorts.

“No, me!” They look at each other furiously and Sylvain wanted to stop them but Byleth silently gestures him to keep quiet and observe them while they continued drawing.

“Daddy, has orange hair!” Selene put down her crayon and grabs the orange crayon from Symon causing the toddler to grab it back. Both sisters know that it is the only orange colored crayon in the table and they all scramble to gain possession of it.

“It’s mine!” Selene pulls the crayon from Symon who shouts back “Mine!”

“No, you give it to me!” Maia grabs Selene’s hand.

All of a sudden, the orange crayon breaks and Symon cries. His cries were so loud that his sisters started crying as well. Sylvain was ready to comfort them and talk to them about sharing, but then Maia surprisingly hugs her sister while crying.

“S-Sorry Selene. I forgot to share. Daddy doesn’t like it when all of us are sad.” Maia rubs her sisters back and getting the tissues beside the television to wipe her brother’s cries.

“I’m sorry Maia. I’ll be gentle with my hands and get ready to share.” Selene cries as she wipes her face.

The two sisters then hug their brother who continues crying and they gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

“Sorry Symon. I’m older than you. I have to take care of you.” Maia rubs her brother’s hands while Selene pats his head and wiping his tears away.

The toddler stops crying and starts to smile as the sister’s smile back at their ‘baby’ brother.

Sylvain amazed by the actions of his children only opened his eyes wide in surprise. He remembers the bullying, the way Miklan snickers when his father’s colleagues grope him, the physical violence of his brother beating him up after school, and the verbal accusations of his brother as a child; though seeing his children loving each other … It made his day so much better.

“S-Sylvain?” Byleth looked at him as tears fell from his eyes.

“Ah… sorry. Here comes the waterworks.” Sylvain rubs his eyes and hugs his wife so tight that he knew that he doesn’t want his family to fall apart. He remembers the day when Byleth accepted his invitation for a date. He recalls how devastated he was telling her about his woes but he won’t ever forget one thing she said “To break the cycle of abuse, it starts with you.”

She lets him cry for a few minutes in her arms. She rubs his delicate smooth back and relishes in the feeling of it. She wanted him to know how much he mattered to her. She kept on rubbing his back until she decides to tease him to help him feel better.

“Sylvain, you do like the feeling of my breasts on your body.” She teases causing him to let go as he blushes again.

Later, Sylvain and Byleth decided to join in with their children and drew random objects from the house and letters to help Selene and Symon with their early reading exposure.

…

After the children were tucked into bed, Sylvain sticks a drawing of the children’s finished artwork in the bedroom wall.

“You really like that drawing, huh?” Byleth smiles from behind him. Maia and Selene drew a picture of the family with Symon adding some scribbles on it as well.

“It’s a nice family portrait.” He grins as he sticks it beside the gifted portrait of him and Byleth. He turns around to give his wife another hug.

“Byleth… I want to hug you as I sleep.” He whispers to her ear as she hugs him back.

“Of course, my love.” She replies softly and then the two share a kiss.

He nuzzles closer to his wife stroking her hair as she falls asleep in his arms. Sylvain didn’t want sex tonight. He wanted the warmth and affection for being with the person he loves the most. This night was special because he realizes how much he changed over the years and this new way of life made him 'the happiest person on earth'.

…

**Extra Dimitri story:**

When Dimitri visited Byleth and Sylvain’s home, he was given a gift from a 4 years old Maia who was just starting to learn how to write. The gift contains a drawing of Maia, baby Selene and Dimitri’s face on the Television. Since she couldn’t write his whole name in a paper, she wrote Dimitri’s initials with: ‘D A B’ on the card. Dimitri based her gift on his campaign _“Think of DAB as the new mayor of Fhirdiad”_. Dedue had to sensibly explain to Dimitri what the dab really meant. However, Dimitri won the mayor elections in Fhirdiad. Dimitri elated on winning his campaign gifted Maia a new bike afterwards.

“Eh? A delivery?” Sylvain looked at the large box at his doorstep as he signed the received package while carrying his 2 years old daughter, Selene. “For Maia Gautier?” He reads the delivery note.

“Who is it from?” Byleth asks as she peeks out from the kitchen rubbing the small baby bump on her belly.

“Dimitri...” Sylvain frowned as he continued to read the letter. “…Mayor of Fhirdiad” Sylvain laughs nervously and called the young girl who recently turned 5 years old.

“A new bike!” Maia gleefully opens the package with her father while Byleth and Selene watched amused. 

“Look at it mommy! He put my name on the bike.” Maia touches the cute basket attached to the bike.

“Oh Maia… I don’t know what to do when you get older and a boy gives you a gift.” Sylvain sighs while Byleth chuckles seeing the two girls play with the bike in the garden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is implied that Sylvain was abused sexually as a child in the Japanese version as evidenced with his red flag on flirting with Ingrid's grandmother and his support with Mercedes telling her that he is traumatized with women. The English version had to censor it to keep the rating to Teens.
> 
> Also, I apologize if this fanfic caused any discomfort, pain, or reemerging horrible memories. I encourage you to find the support needed to help your mental health!  
> Remember, if Sylvain was able to turn his into a better one. You have to try too! Let's stop the cycle of abuse. 
> 
> Anyway...  
> The next chapter is smut ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> Speaking of university... I need to finish my dissertation instead of procrastinating.
> 
> Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you!


	4. The Art of Moderation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You think I'd cheat? On you Baby? Never!" As promised, here's the smut...( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> Warning: This chapter contains explicit sexual content, heavy smut, married sex, talks of pregnancy, lots of sex.... ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> I'm also currently practicing writing smut so hopefully it is bearable to read. Any feedback is appreciated. 
> 
> "Hey, if ya don't believe me, well..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short summary of other characters mentioned in the AU:  
> Jeralt – Byleth’s father. A retired army veteran. He also used to compete in archery competitions before joining the army. He teaches archery after his retirement. 
> 
> Sitri- Byleth’s mother (didn’t die in this universe). She worked as a social worker where she met Jeralt. After Byleth got married, she travels around the world with her husband.

_“Ugh…” Sylvain felt a sharp pain on his head and instantly rubbed it to ease the pain. He woke up in a hospital with a bandage over his head and back. He may be in pain, but there beside him on his hospital bed was the woman of his wildest dreams._

_“Oh hey professor.” He grinned slowly putting his hand on top of hers as she clutched the hospital bed._

_“Sylvain… you protected me.” Byleth affectionately held his hand while examining his injury clearly worried about his health._

_When Byleth accepted a date with him, he was speechless and ecstatic about it; but the date ended abruptly due to a woman, he used to date a few years ago, confronted him with her new boyfriend. Noticeably, the intention of the woman was to take revenge on him for breaking her heart all those years back and asked her boyfriend to “teach him a lesson” and that means… with violence. While running away from the boyfriend, he observed that his “ex” wanted to inflict pain on Byleth as well. Sylvain pushed Byleth aside inflicting harm on himself as his “ex” hit him with a baseball bat. Although, Byleth was able to hold back the couple (learning from her father about self-defense). She then called the police after the staff from the bar restrained the “ex” and her boyfriend._

_Sylvain’s last memory of the fight was when Byleth held his hand tightly calling his name as he heard the paramedics rush to him. He felt delighted, but sad that his crush was calling out his name albeit not in the right circumstance. He wanted forgiveness for joking that he wanted her fired from her job, yet he knew forgiveness was not possible after telling her how much he envies her carefree life and also, the way she cares for his other classmates as well (basically, he was jealous for her attention)._

_“When I saw you were getting hurt for real… my reflexes kicked in. I reacted without thinking.” He frowned looking away wondering why he had to say such words after he expressed his frustrations and jealousy towards her during their date._

_“But I also thought you wanted me fired?” She replied back and he knew he was at a loss. She was sharp on picking up his words and bringing it back to him for later. It has been going on since he became her student. He had said so many excuses and flowery language that she was able to use it against him._

_“I certainly said it… when I meant it…” He looked at her staring into her eyes and he realized how foolish he was about it. He thought it was a feeling that was just going to pass. He definitely, absolutely, unquestionably hate…._

_“Sylvain.”_

_She held his hand tighter her face looking dejected. She said it so tenderly that made his face turn red on the spot. He understood now that his hatred and jealousy towards her was his way to conceal his feelings of love._

_Byleth slowly tangled her fingers on his hand on brought it closer to her chest where he could feel her heartbeat while she took deep breaths compelling herself to stay calm. Byleth knew that she was in love with him. She had hidden way her feelings for him so many times during his last year in the university. Not to mention that she had so many doubts and fears about him due to his philandering ways. After a year when he came back to see her, her feelings for him remerged again when he genuinely saved her knowing that it would result into him getting hurt._

_“Get well soon, Sylvain.” She murmured smiling at him and his heart started beating faster._

**_I love her._ ** _Sylvain repeated **and repeated** in his head. He secretly gave in from her touches staring at her with so much adoration and love._

_“Um… Thanks, Byleth.” He wanted to call her name to provoke her, but it ended up with her other hand caressing his face._

_“You called me by my first name.” She gently touched his cheek making him a little tense for the sudden touches. He definitely liked it as she strokes his cheek and withdrawing it after seeing him uncomfortable._

_“W-Wait…” He grabbed her hand as she stopped._

_“I-I like it. When you do that… and when you call my name.” He grinned enjoying her warmth and undivided attention on him. She only replied with a huff but she was content with that short moment with him._

_“I also like it when you call my name.” She blushed embarrassed and he tries his best to ingrain this moment into his memory._

_He knew that he would never get tired of her calling out his name._

…

“A-Ah! Sylvain!”

She gasps as he licks her juices. Her hands tangled in his hair as he dives his tongue deeper into her core. Sylvain absolutely enjoyed this. He was initially upset when she tries to muffle her sounds when they have their time in the bedroom, but after they had children, he now finds satisfaction just having her without waking the children (both of them thankful that it never happened to wake them up). However, they weren’t in the bedroom but on the couch; her shirt crumpled up on her chest and her panties stripped away exposing herself to him.

“Hmmmm… S-Sylvain.” She takes a deep breath relishing the different sensations her husband is giving her as she sat on the couch her legs resting on both his shoulders as he continues his ministrations. The more she screams, the more he grips on her thighs tighter as he works his wonders on her.

“T-The children w-will… b-be…h-home soo-” She mumbles. “Ah!” She pants as he uses his fingers to give additional stimulation to her clit. She leans back in pleasure as he moves his hands on her hips to keep her in place. She knows the children are not home for the whole afternoon. They went to the aquarium with their grandparents, Jeralt and Sitri. Byleth’s parents adore the children so much that they often visit them to spend more quality time with the children.

Sylvain doesn’t stop but takes his sweet time pleasuring his wife remembering the sounds and screams she makes only when she is with him. “S-Sylvain…”She squirms holding his hair tighter. “I’m comi—Ah!” Before she gives him a warning, she reaches her peak as her juices flowed out of her and she arches her back from the aftershocks. After a few seconds, she opens her eyes and sees her husband lapping up the juices from her and pulling his hands out of her core. She blushes as she watches him lick his lower arm to his wrist that had her juices dripping from his hand.

“Hmm… Byleth. You are so beautiful.” His eyes looked at her clouded and shrouded with lust satisfied with seeing his wife disarrayed on the couch with her shirt bundled on top exposing her breasts, her legs open and her core wet and dripping on the couch, and enjoying the thrill of her when she screamed out his name just a few minutes ago. She only stares at him and replied with a moan when she spots his erection visible from his pants.

“Sylvain, take your shirt off. It’s not fair.” She pleads staring him her eyes in need for more of him. She didn’t like the way he stood fully dressed in a tight fit shirt and loose pants when she writhed under his touch.

He laughs a bit from her frustration and decides to give her a show. He comes closer to her and raises her chin. “I want a kiss from my beloved wife, first.” He teases and she growls not liking the way he turns it around on her, but she gives in to his kiss. Sylvain loves kissing his wife whether it was a peck, fluttering kiss, on the cheek, but it makes him melt when he kisses her deeply just like this. She holds his shoulders when their tongues tangle in each other and he pulls her close in response. Sylvain lets go of his wife while they halt their kiss; a trail of saliva connecting them and Sylvain pulls his shirt from below to wipe her mouth and his, not yet removing it and making his wife whine in anticipation.

“Patience, my wife.” He giggles and stood up hovering over her from the couch holding his shirt up he licks his lips admiring another angle of his wife looking up at him while she is wet and clearly wanting more of him. He gently pulls off his shirt throwing to the side as his wife blushes relishing in his toned muscles and the way he sensually licks his fingers. He goes down on her again to kiss her lips and they share another kiss and later gasping for air. Byleth wanted to get back at him for teasing her for so long that she grabs him down on the couch letting him sit beside her. Sylvain a little startled by her strength responds by putting a hand on her leg to continue to move closer to her but she pushes it away making him groan in frustration.

“I forgot to wash the dishes.” She grins as she places her index finger on his lips stopping him from his advances and immediately getting off the couch pulling her shirt down. Sylvain blinks his eyes clearly confused as Byleth runs over to the kitchen and places the unwashed plates on the sink. Sylvain stops to comprehending the situation as he sat alone on the couch his erection still visible on his pants. He wipes the sweat on his forehead as he watches his wife opening the sink. He knows her plans on teasing him but it makes him ache even more when he sees her underwear on the floor.

 _“She’s driving me crazy.”_ He covers his eyes with his hand and looks back into the kitchen seeing that Byleth’s lower half is exposed and observing her juices dripping down on her thighs. _“I need her.”_ He thinks to himself and he knows that she incites him to follow her. Following his wife, he stands up and walks slowly to the kitchen.

Byleth expecting her husband to follow starts washing her hands and soon she feels him leaning closer to her from behind moving her hair to one side and kissing her exposed neck.

“Byleth, you…” He breathes as she feels his hard erection on her exposed lower back. Byleth’s breaths become faster as she focuses on cleaning the dishes properly, she expects him to make a move yet he refuses making her whimper.

“Hmmm… Byleth… My wife.” Sylvain’s hands starts to travel inside her shirt brushing it up again above her breasts same with their previous encounter. Byleth’s hands started shaking a bit as she struggles with the dishes. He fondles her breasts as he kisses her cheek making her silently moan. He touches her breasts gently at first but then he starts to enjoy the different sounds she makes when he starts squeezing them and when he finally pinched her nipples, she moans louder in response.

“S-Sylvain!” She pants loudly and he knew this torture was enough for him and her. He reaches from behind her back to close the sink making her hold on to the edge of the sink to keep her balance.

“Byleth, I can’t think anymore. I want you.” Sylvain whispers to her ear as held her hips listening to both of their breaths fast and uneven.

“I want you too, Sylvain.” She replies her body hot and ready for him after all that teasing.

With her body still facing the sink, Byleth tilts her head around to kiss him and he pulls down his pants freeing his aching cock, twitching from anticipation and positions himself from behind her. He aligns his erection to her core and starts to push it inside her.

“Oh… Ah!” She moans gripping the sink as her life depended on it. Sylvain kisses her shoulder until he is fully inside her. He stops and caressed his wife’s hips.

“Are you okay, Byleth?” He asks as she replies with a soft “Yes…” and after getting that reassurance, he thrusts into her wildly feeling her back arch once again to his thrusting and listening to her sweet, _sweet_ moans that reverberate around the house. He is thankfully that all the curtains are covered since he only loves it when he savors this special moment with his wife since this sight was totally intoxicating to him. He enjoys the way his wife grasps the sink as he thrusts in her from behind angling into her sensitive spots as she screams from desire and excitement from rarely doing this with him.

“Ah~ Sylvain!” Byleth calls out his name countless times until Sylvain groans and grips her hips leaning on her shoulder. “Byleth… I’ll come s-soon… But I want us to come together.” His thrusts get rougher making her squeal in delight and in pleasure. She admits that she enjoys the company of her husband and that when she occasionally goes on business trips, she starts to miss his presence and even his touch. She contemplates that they don’t spend intimate times like this anymore ever since they had Symon. Three children are a lot of responsibility and she remembers Sylvain scrambling running after their son who recently reached the later “terrible twos” stage while she runs after Selene and Maia. She was brought back to the present when she finally screams from her orgasm with him following her.

She hears him whisper “I love you” for a few times rubbing her hips and her back as she feels the cum flowing in her filling her up and her grip to the sink falters and she almost slips but her husband immediately pulls out of her to hold her to his chest wrapping his arms around her. She feels the sweat and his ragged breaths as they both recover with their legs unsteady as he leaned her to the sink holding her close. Her back leaning on the sink as he reaches to grip the sink with one hand securing her to him.

“Sylvain, I love you.” She whispers as she leans on his chest feeling his warmth causing her shirt to fall back down to cover her upper body.

“Really?” He laughs as he knows how much she loves him.

“Of course, I miss this.” She nuzzles closer to him as he stayed silent and Byleth knows he is embarrassed despite not looking at him. When they both steady their breathing, Sylvain takes a step back to admire his wife, but then Byleth instantaneously closes her legs looking away from him keeping his juices inside her.

“I-I wanted the cum to stay.” She blushes liking the feeling of him inside of her making him stunned.

“You didn’t take your birth control, Byleth?” He asks curiously and she nods in approval and his eyes widen in shock and amusement.

“I was sad.” She looks at him miserable. “During Symon’s first day at school.” She recalls seeing Sylvain sobbing as Symon entered the classroom without crying from separation anxiety (unlike Selene who was so distressed during her first weeks of school while gripping her father’s shirt; resulting them to enroll her a year later). She also wanted to cry from seeing her “baby Sylvain” grow up so fast but had the urge to be strong for the sake of her husband. After leaving Symon in preschool, she made Sylvain rest on her lap on the couch while she stroked his hair for around 3 hours before they had to pick up their son from school (and hours later had to pick up the other children).

“So you mean…” His eyes lit up.

“I want another baby, Sylvain.” She comes closer to him as he holds her back grinning on how expressive she is with him. He was anxious that she didn’t want another child after Symon. Besides, Byleth was the person in charge of their financial situation. He didn’t want to force her with any troubles in the future after the incident with having Selene early.

This close intimacy with him made his cock shudder once more and Byleth elatedly felt it too as they both lean in for another kiss.

After the kiss, Sylvain watches Byleth rub her stomach and her hands slip down to her core as she whines releasing a few of their combined juices on her thigh. He gulps hungrily clearly aroused as he watches her juices dripping down on the kitchen tiles. He knows that they are going to clean it later and not forgetting the couch as well.

“Sylvain.” Byleth suggestively smiles at him as Sylvain takes her hand away from her core and starts licking her juices from her hand.

“Byleth… We have the whole afternoon to ourselves.” He winks back removing her fingers from his mouth seducing his wife with evocative words that manages to make her wet and needy for him.

“Ah~ Sylvain.” She moans excited for another round with him.

“Bedroom?” He asks as he wants to fulfill her needs and desires to have another child with her.

“Of course, my love.” As soon as she said this, he straightaway scoops her up as she giggles.

“My husband!” She laughs with him and she pleasingly listens to his steps as he brings them up the stairs. They both recall their wedding night when he carried her bridal style to their room and happily consummated the marriage.

…

Upon arriving in the room, he drops her gently on the bed and she sits up to remove her shirt exposing her bare skin in front of him. He looks at her full of affection and love. He moves to kiss her lips and their tongues moved around each other fervently.

“Take off your pants, Sylvain.” She mumbles from the kisses and he guides her hands to help him remove it.

“Better?” He teases as she took his pants and grumbled when she saw his underwear.

“Hmm…” She groans exasperated from his teases. “And your underwear.” She pulls it down quickly exposing his hard erection. He tosses their remaining clothes on the floor as he moves on top of her. He observes her core still wet from their previous trysts and he licks his lips. No matter how many times he had done this with her, he blisses in the moment seeing her from this angle when she is lost in pleasure.

Knowing that she is ready for him, he plunges his cock into her core straight away making her fall back into the bed abruptly. He thrusts into her roughly as she wraps her legs around him feeling him push her to her limits.

“B-Byleth, I can only think of y-you.” He pants. “I-I can’t imagine being in love with someone else.” He whispers to her ear sweet and flowery words that used to make her doubt him but as his words become more sincere she could not help falling in love with him more. Sylvain always wanted Byleth to be happy even promising on their engagement that “He will do whatever he can to make her happy”.

Sylvain listens carefully to her pants, moans and screams loving the way his wife calls for his name, switching to ‘husband’ and ‘my love’ with ragged breaths. He leans down to take a nipple on his mouth as she felt her shudder in bliss and then moving to her lips to give her a slow and sensual kiss. This allows her to wrap her arms around his neck as he continues pounding into her. She felt a burning sensation in her as she squeals recalling how many times she came on the same day. She knew her husband’s stamina is more insatiable due to his past. Sylvain only felt pain with other women and his abuse was scarring that when Byleth hugged him during their first time, he kissed her so lovingly after sex and spent most of their time wrapped up in the sheets and telling stories to each other. There was tinge of jealousy there though as she knew his past; however, when he expressed his longing that he wanted to spend his whole life with her, she accepted him wholeheartedly. It was rewarded with her experiencing his tender and sweet love making _and only reserved for her and no one else from now on_.

“Byleth!” He called out her name as he came with her almost at the same time. He fell to her side and wraps his hands around her body.

“Sylvain…” Byleth softly moaned as she felt him dripping inside her once more. She felt so sensitive after she came. “Yes, my beautiful wife?” He hums in pleasure while his cock still inside her core.

“Let’s take a rest.” She snuggles on his chest trying her best to stay awake as he pulls her closer and she gasps feeling his cock move inside of her on a new position.

“While I am still inside of you?” He chuckles mischievously causing her to frown unable to find the strength to slap him.

“Hmmm… Fine.” She closes her eyes as she gives in with his demand and Sylvain feels content just having her close to him. He felt so relaxed with her that he fell asleep drenched and exhausted from a long afternoon.

…

An hour later…

“BZZZZT! BZZZZZZT!

The sound of a mobile phone woke the couple up. He groans as he pulled out of her causing her to whimper a little as he softly massages her back in a slow rhythm. Sylvain wanting his wife to take a longer rest stood up from the bed to grab his mobile phone from the floor. He stood up to read a recent text message that was sent a few minutes ago.

“WOAH!” He jumps causing the bed to jump and startling Byleth.

“Sylvain, what’s wrong?” She stood up while holding the sheets close to her body and rubbing her tired eyes exhausted from their previous activities. He wanted to enjoy the presence of his wife tangled in the sheets naked looking at him so beautifully, but this is definitely an emergency.

“Y-Your father messaged me….” He looked at her shaking and Byleth moved closer to look at his text:

........................

_From: Father-in-Law_

_“Sylvain, the aquarium closed early._

_Bringing back the kids. We bought dinner.”_

_........................_

“WHAAAAT?!” Byleth yelled in horror her eyes now wide awake. The two were expecting them to arrive home much later.

“How long does it take for them to go back?” Sylvain wondered with fear that they might come home in any minute.

“20 to 30 minutes.” Byleth stared at him. Both of them mentally making a checklist on their heads on the things they need to clean up after their “wild” afternoon.

Sylvain and Byleth instantly scrambled around the room to pick up their discarded clothes. They decide to wear a change of clothes to prevent any evidence from their “lascivious activities”. They proceeded to hurry downstairs to clean the mess up. Sylvain ran around the over the kitchen cleaning the floor almost tripping while Byleth cleaned the couch as she panicked on plugging the vacuum cleaner to the power socket.

…

When they both saw Jeralt’s car, they sighed in relief after their house was thoroughly cleaned. They both plump down on the clean couch opening the television and taking deep breaths calming themselves.

Sylvain pulls his wife closer to him as they watch another debate of Dimitri and Edelgard’s continued political policies. Byleth leans on his shoulder and chuckles although not because of the television.

“It was too fast.” She kisses his cheek as he melted to her touch.

“So you want more time to be alone with me?” He laughs as his hand rests on her hips making her sigh.

“You know you can’t last a day when you don’t see the children.” She looks at him disdainfully reminding him that he tends to feel gloomy without the children by his side. He frowns as he remembers crying when his children started preschool, when Maia graduated preschool, when Selene danced on stage on a special program at school, when Symon brought home his finished artwork at school… He knows he is going to feel much more when they finish university. 

“Then you better distract me…” He dips his hand under the waistband of her shorts earning a slap from her.

“Not now, Sylvain.” She scorns as he pulled his hand away in defeat.

“Ouch…” He blows the hand where she slapped him making her caress his cheek.

“Besides there are still many opportunities since the children are still young… we are still young and maybe…” She blushes as she rubs her stomach “hoping for another baby Sylvain”. He beams at her and tells her that he wants another “baby Byleth” even when he already has two daughters that almost have a similar appearance to his wife. They both laugh.

As they both lean down for another kiss, Maia opens the door enthusiastically letting her grandparents and siblings enter the home (Sylvain unlocked the door after he saw Jeralt’s car).

“D-Daddy!” Selene gulps as she saw her parents about to kiss and runs toward her father.

“No mommy! I will marry daddy!” She climbs on his lap as she pushes her mother away _gently_.

“Me too! I will marry daddy! I have the rings we made!” Maia follows showing a handmade children’s ring (adorned with cute lions) to her mother and climbed alongside her sister who is seated on her father’s lap.

“Mama is mine!” Symon climbs on his mother’s lap as the siblings fought for their father. This cute gesture delights Byleth who kisses his cheek. Symon grew to look more like Sylvain every passing day albeit a younger version of him.

“No one wants to marry me?” Jeralt jokingly asks as both girls turn to look at him.

“No, we want to marry daddy.” The girls replied as they hugged their father not knowing how much they made their grandfather sad only causing Sitri to laugh louder at his emotionless response.

“Byleth, better have another one so they can ‘ _marry_ ’ me.” Jeralt said seriously not showing any expression to mean it as a joke.

Sylvain and Byleth both picked up his joke and laughed a little embarrassed… but deep inside they hoped for another blessing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Jeralt. I can imagine him deep inside like :(
> 
> Next Chapter... Sylvain and the children (Fluff) and a surprise from Byleth ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (no smut lol I'm terrible)
> 
> Also...
> 
> No one:  
> Felix: G O F I N D A H U S B A N D!


	5. Sincerest of Knights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry... I lied. There's smut in this chapter too. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> Warning: This chapter contains mentions of violence (due to war) and some explicit sexual content  
> ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

_It was a dark distant dream…_

_There was some kind of holy war among the three regions of Fodlan. The empire has declared war against Sylvain’s homeland._

_Sylvain looked up the orange hazy sky as the war continued. Although he was not alone, a young woman almost his age fought with him. They won numerous battles against the empire. He expressed his disdain towards her with their frequent conversations, yet he flirted with her trying to gain her attention. She corrected him so many times about his problems with women, yet she lived a carefree life that was away from the power of **crests**. There was a lingering feeling of **jealousy** and **hate** that he felt for this woman._

**_Crests_ ** _. He wondered as he watched her walking around the old school talking with Dimitri and Dedue earnestly smiling and laughing with them._

_…_

_“Professor Byleth! When the war is over, would you have dinner with me?” Sylvain reached his hand to hers and kissed it softly but it does not get the response he wanted._

_“I can’t trust you.” Byleth stared at him pessimistically looking away from his eyes._

_“Oh.” That was all he managed to say as she smiled back not wanting to hurt his feelings._

_“But you’ll be a great margrave one day. We have to keep working hard.” She softly said to him patting his shoulder. With a short pause, she walks away from him leaving him to ponder on ways how to attract her attention._

_…_

_The war is over. The people of Fodlan rejoiced in their new king, Dimitri, and archbishop, Byleth, who announced their marriage. Sylvain’s companions were glad and pleased with their achievements reveling on how they complement each other that they would bring a new era to the country._

_Sylvain watched as the king held her hand she responded with a sincere smile._

**_Warmth._ **

_He felt as he saw the king and archbishop walked down the aisle together hand in hand showing the people that they have tied the knot. The couple looked back at each other. They laughed as their foreheads touched each other and soon, they kissed tenderly as the bride’s flower decorations on her hair flowed with the wind, falling onto the people below the balcony who cheered for their new rulers._

_He only observed in silence clapping his hands along with the other people. Deep inside, there was jealousy, sadness… yet… He should be happy that the person he cherished married a man she loved._

_…_

_“Ughhh…” He pushed himself off the bed and blinked his eyes adjusting to rays of the warm sunlight around the room. After the war, he inherited his father’s title. He fixed his territory and made peace with the neighboring regions. He was famous as a great lord but he often brought women with him and some of them in his room. He would drink and revel in the comfort of alcohol when his friends come by to visit._

_One day, Byleth came to visit him. He was happy at first until he sees her going down the carriage. His eyes watched as she waved at him while he walked closer._

_“Congratulations.” He muttered as she smiled back caressing her stomach clearly visible that she is carrying the king’s first born child._

_“I guess my advice to the king really worked.” He said as he put his arms on his back. She blushed at his teasing._

_“That means… I know what you want in your bedroom affairs!” He tried to sound rude as he jokes._

_“Sylvain!” She replied embarrassed as she punched him on the face and he chuckled remembering that he said this to another woman a long time ago._

_He spent the afternoon with her talking about the new policies the king has made. She mentions to him that she was grateful for his support especially with **that time** when king indirectly asked for advice with some personal affairs **with her**. _

_The afternoon turned out pleasant despite the impolite greetings and mentions of the king in her speech. He watched her eyes glow the more she talked about Dimitri. The way his ring adorned in her ring finger._

_As he watched her carriage move away, He scoffed._

**_Advice for the king?_ ** _He kicked a stone on the ground bitter at the thought of his advice helped bloom their romance more._

**_If only you knew… How much I…_ **

_He stopped._

_“Does that mean that I have feelings for you?” He looked up at the peaceful blue sky. His first clenched from hatred and lastly, guilt._

_“I love her.” He finally admitted it._

_He felt sick thinking about this but he wished that the war continued; the sky would have been orange, she would have fought beside him, maybe he could have changed… maybe if he tried…_

_A tear fell from his eyes as he knew that things cannot change anymore._

_It was too late._

…

Sylvain opened his eyes as he woke up from a long distant dream.

He felt tears from his eyes as he sits back up. Sylvain wipes his eyes with his hands as he stared at the clean sheets. His previous home, the Gautier residence’s lavish and adorned patterns were evident as he woke up, but his senses were replaced by the crisp and refreshing smell of simple homey yellow sheets.

“Ah. This is…” He observed his surroundings.

 _“That’s right… I’m…”_ He remembers as he gazes at the large portrait of him and his wife.

 _A tender and warm picture_. He smiled and noticed a child’s drawing of him and his family just beside it. He shifts as he saw his wife sleeping comfortably on the sheets.

 _His wife_.

 _His wife._ He repeats.

Sylvain brushed a strand of her hair away from her face and she opens her eyes just a bit.

“Hmm… Sylvain.” She mutters as her eyes closed and she snuggles closer to the sheets. He chuckles silently as he strokes her back and she snores.

“Byleth, I love you.” He leans down to kiss her cheek and plumps himself back down on the bed hooking a hand around her waist.

Gently, he strokes the small baby bump on her stomach causing her to wake up from his soft touches.

“Sylvain?” She opens her eyes slightly and uses one hand to touch his face.

“Did you have a bad dream?” She touches his face and feels the almost dried tears on his eyes as he smiled softly at her. She knows him so well that she can tell whether he has a nightmare or a good dream.

“Yeah, but don’t worry… I’m alright.” He continues his caresses on her tummy but then his hand slips and _accidentally_ touches her breast.

“Mr. Philanderer!” Byleth jolts from his touch opening her eyes again.

“Uhhh Sorry!” Sylvain puts his hands up in an attempt to surrender a blush evident on his face. She moves herself up on top of him and he admires her sight. He observes the straps of her night gown falling to her shoulder exposing a closer view to her cleavage, her breasts almost visible under her top, and noting the size of it getting bigger with her early stage of pregnancy, and not to mention the wonderful display of her slight blush on her face. He felt her hands going under his shirt fondling his torso indulging him with tender touches.

“Mr. Philanderer, so you find comfort in touching me after nightmares?” She teases although she knows that he would not stoop down low and just touch her. She hides her smile as she understands that he does make mistakes in the dark.

Sylvain does not respond to her words but he coddled into her sensitive touches that distracted him from his nightmare. He moans as she fondles his nipples rubbing her hands around it.

She moans in response, a little aroused staring at her husband melting to her touches. She enjoyed the feeling of his toned muscles and his erection hardening to her touch eliciting a low mumble from him as he took one hand to caress it.

“Someone’s needy at this late hour.” She murmurs as she fondles his upper body while her other hand continued to massage his most sensitive part. He whines from her touch lost in thought and desire.

She leans in to give him a peck on the lips but he responds in a more ardent manner as he pulls her close to him and they start using their tongues in the kiss.

After enjoying the sweet sensual kiss, they both gasp for air and he puts both of his hands on her bulging stomach as she straddles him.

“Our new baby.” He whispers making sure she could hear it as well.

“Yes. **_Our_** _healthy baby_.” She replies quietly while placing her one hand atop on his hand rubbing her belly and she uses the other hand to balance herself.

She adored him caressing her baby but she blushes when she feels his erection on her underwear making her wet.

Sylvain becomes incited with his wife’s small gesture of love. This encourages him to slip his hands under her top to caress the larger mounds of her chest making her gasp at the sudden touch.

“Hmmm.” She holds his arms to stable herself on top of him as he fondles her breasts sensually, slowly, and intensely, and memorizing the feeling of it changing naturally due to her pregnancy. He rubs her nipples with both hands making her moan allowing him to squeeze it harder and she replies with a low rumbled sound.

 _I can’t have enough of her_. He thought as he watches her arch her back to his touches. He thought back to his dream of how distant they were and the lost time he would have impressed her if he had just tried to improve himself during that time.

As real as that dream was, this (his beautiful wife on top of him) is his reality now.

Soon, the married couple’s clothes were discarded. There were sounds of soft breaths, muffled gasps and pants around the room. Byleth gasps as she bounces on his erection and he thrusts into her deeply again hitting her delicate spots. Sylvain holds her hips as she continued thrusting into him keeping her steady while following her rhythm of thrusts. Although he enjoys the sight of his wife on top of him, He feels her leaning forward putting her hands on his belly as she struggles to keep upright.

“Byleth. Wait.” He said as she slows down to a halt.

He shifts their positions pushing her down on her back as he held her legs apart with both of his hands holding under her knees. She leans her head on the pillow as she takes deep breaths watching her husband hover over her anticipating his movement.

“You are tired. You better leave the work to your husband.” He smiled as he positions his cock back to her core.

“Ah!” She covers her mouth when he swiftly entered her burying his cock fully inside her and her eyes started to water from the delightful sensation.

“Shhhh… We might wake them up.” He smiles playfully enjoying the sight of his wife muffled in pleasure _because of him_ and this only encourages him to thrust into her roughly.

“I-I love you, Sylvain.” Byleth mumbles to her husband as she was lost in the sensation with him.

…

After they both came undone, he pulls her close while softly massaging her lower back and later on her baby bump. It was still late at night, the children are asleep and they still have work tomorrow. Sylvain starts to hum a nursery rhyme for his unborn baby while his wife starts to fall asleep from his relaxing touches and hums. He fixes the stands of her hair on her face as he hears her snoring. Smiling lovingly to the woman _of his wildest dreams_ , he wipes off her _pleasured_ tears and gives her a peck on her forehead.

As she sleeps on his chest, he felt calm as he listens to his wife’s breathing. It made him relax from the distress of that unusual dream.

Soon, his eyes closed and he falls back to sleep.

…

_He drifts back to that dream._

_This time he sees her enter a different classroom and he resolves to be with her this time._

_“Professor Byleth, let me be in your class. I'll be there on time and in the front row and everything. You'll never have a better student." He winks at her and Byleth just stared at him for a while and nods making him feel triumphant inside._

_He indirectly confesses to her in some sort of tower. He mentioned that he was expecting someone else to meet her but was relieved when he saw her alone. She doubted him and he insisted that he would change so he could be the man that she can trust._

_This time, he follows her resolve by abandoning his homeland for a war that she believes would change **crests** and nobility and placed his side with the empire. _

_It was a bloody war. He breathes the cold and bloodthirsty air that smelled so horrible that he felt sick remembering it._

_“Burn until we meet again.” He withdraws his lance from his former comrade’s body as they fell limp on the ground. He curses as he looked at his hands._

_They were stained with **their** blood._

_Although his hands were immediately replaced with warmth as she takes his hands into hers, he stares at her as she wipes his hand from the blood and later moving to his face to clean them away. He hugs her knowing that she would usually complain from his usual antics. However… she returns the hug._

_At one point, He gets injured from the war shielding her from harm leaving him a scar to remember the curses from his enemy. He jokes but attracts her attention when he mentions that it’s a “medal” from protecting her._

_He felt that she would be with another man after the war (or maybe plans to be by Edelgard’s side), but she meets him again on the old school before the sunrise. He proposes to her knowing that she probably was waiting for someone else._

_Though this time… **She accepts his proposal gladly.**_

_He marries her and they both have an intimate and short honeymoon in Derdrui where she promised that he could put an arm around her as they walk thru the lively streets where the people rejoiced with the end of the war._

_He comes home with his wife to change his territory earning the trust of the people making him the leader of the Gautier territory. She becomes a leader just like him upon their **formal** marriage at his homeland. _

_She settles with him quickly, decorating his old home removing all the things he found trauma in, and changing the colors of the old crumpled patterned bed sheets to a better crisp and simple plain pastel colors. She holds his hand as they negotiate peaceful treaties with the neighboring territories. She joins his fights against those who slither in the dark. With her help, peace was brought back to the whole country._ _They become both famous for working tirelessly to remove the perceived views of crests._

_After some time, she constructed a small pavilion outside their home where there was a cozy fireplace that they can snuggle up to since it was cold all year round in his…no, **their** territory. _

_Byleth rubbed her growing stomach as she leaned to him feeling the warmness inside that small structure._

_“Sylvain.” She said softly while humming a cheerful song for him and her unborn baby. Sylvain stops as he threw another wood into the fireplace._

_“Yes, my love?” He turns his head to look at her._

_“What should we name our baby?” She smiles warmly at him making him smile as well._

_“I was thinking Maia… I want it to be a girl so she can look as beautiful as you.” He chuckled and she laughs._

_“Then...If it’s a boy, I want him to be named Symon.” Byleth closes her eyes as Sylvain puts an arm around her waist._

_“I want him to look like you too.” She thinks it is cute at the thought of having younger Sylvain as her son._

_“It doesn’t matter as long as you are happy.” Sylvain strokes her hair as he leans towards her to give her a kiss._

_Is this a dream or a reality? He thought as he stayed beside his beloved._

_Either way, he believes he should cherish this new way of life **warmly** as he felt warmth for the first time in his homeland._

…

“BZZZZT! BZZZZT!”

The alarm rang loudly in the room waking Sylvain up from an unforgettable dream. He gets up and gives the sheets to his wife who shivered from the cold air wearing nothing because of their “previous activities”. He tenderly kisses her forehead and then her tummy greeting his wife and unborn child. Byleth sighs and mumbles “Good Morning” as she fell back asleep.

“What a good dream.” Sylvain yawns as he gets off the bed. He stretches his arms and leaves the room to wake the children up.

…

He goes inside the girls’ room approaching the eldest daughter first.

“Good Morning, Beautiful.” He kisses Maia’s forehead as she stretches her arms waking from his kiss. He goes to the next bed and kisses his second child, Selene.

“Time to wake up, Gorgeous.” He kisses the younger girl’s forehead as she sleepily replies. “Good morning, Daddy.” 

As the girls stretch their arms and fix their beds, he opens the curtains allowing the sun to shine inside their room. The two girls sluggishly walked toward their respective bathrooms to take a warm bath.

When Sylvain found out Byleth was pregnant, he immediately refurnished the house and adding two more bathrooms: one for the girls and one across the hallway. Now, Maia would use the bathroom in the hallway while Selene used the bathroom in her room.

…

Before Sylvain enters the room of his son, he takes a warm bath in his bedroom and Byleth wakes up soon after to use it.

Sylvain after having a nice warm bath relaxes as he enters his son’s room. He laughs as he notices that his son slept comfortably face down on the new bed with the sheets fallen on the floor.

 _He grew up so fast_. He thought as he noticed his old crib folded away to the side of the room for the meantime since he is expecting another baby _soon_.

He kisses the boy’s forehead as the young child stretches his arms.

“Good Morning , Handsome.” He ruffles his son’s bed hair admiring the boy’s inherited features from him.

“Hi, Daddy.” Symon yawns rubbing his eyes. Since the boy turned three years old last month, he started calling his parents “Mommy and Daddy” now (before it used to be “Mama” and “Papa” due to his early speech).

Sylvain holds his hand as he brings the boy to the bathroom by the hallway. Maia just finished taking her bath leaving the bathroom vacant and she kisses her brother’s cheek as she passes by her father and brother.

While the two girls dress up, Sylvain helps Symon take a bath making sure he uses the mild soap and shampoo. Byleth later checks on the girls if they have dressed well. The couple is reassured since they taught the girls to hang their clothes in the bathroom ready for tomorrow.

When the girls go downstairs, Symon is already on the table as the breakfast was being served. Sylvain was on the stove frying the eggs.

“Time to eat, ladies.” Sylvain winks as he added a sunny side up egg to their plates. When he adds an egg to Byleth’s plate, Byleth takes a short glance at her husband admiring her husband’s pink apron with frills on the ends. She contemplates how hilarious the front part of the apron says “ **Caution:** Extremely Hot”.

After the delicious breakfast, Byleth leaves the home for work. She kisses the children and later her husband, who returns with a peck on her lips, making the children a little shocked (and somehow disgusted) especially when he kissed her stomach knowing that there is a “baby inside”.

…

Sylvain brings the children to school. He drops off Maia first in primary school, then Selene and Symon in preschool and silently walks home, a little lonely that there are no children with him _for now_.

In the present, he has to catch up with the house chores and he takes the laundry basket filled with used clothes from the bathrooms to prepare them for cleaning today. After he hangs the laundry outside, he starts to prepare leaving the house for his part-time job. Ever since Symon attended preschool, Sylvain changed his work shifts and temporarily added longer work hours from his part-time job allowing to earn him an extra income and to keep him busy from being lonely at home.

…

A few months ago, He recalls the emotionless expression of his wife when he cried in her arms leaning his head on her lap after Symon settled in preschool.

“ **You better work.** ” She said so monotone that he knew that there was no escape from her seriousness.

“Ahh…Okay…” He sniffs as he held her waist tightly. Byleth pitied on him as she stroked his hair.

“Besides…” She huffs. “You have to take responsibility for knocking me up four times!” He sniffs again until he comprehended the last two words. “Four times?” He immediately stood up to look at her.

“You are-“ His eyes widened. “I thought that you were food poisoned?” He recalled last week that she came home earlier tired and lightheaded and he accompanied her to the toilet while he rubbed her back to ease her puking. 

“After all the passionate 'lovers trysts' we have…” She scowled looking at him disappointed causing him to whimper. He brings her to his arms and he cries more, but this time… these were tears of joy.

“Byleth, I’m so happy!” He sobs and she sighed from his response. He did cry when she was pregnant with Symon (and Selene… as well as Maia).

“Ahem!” She coughs intentionally and takes out a long list earning him a confused stare.

“Since you will take responsibility with my recent pregnancy, you have to adjust with certain foods to cook, you are in charge of carrying the heaviest items in the house, you have to check the closet for Symon or Selene’s old baby clothes (some of Maia’s clothes were passed down to Selene), also don’t throw Symon’s baby crib…” Byleth was listing so many things and Sylvain only thought about one thing.

“We need more bathrooms!” he held both her hands in his and enthusiastically looked into her eyes.

“Bathrooms?” She winced. “Yes, we only have one in our room and a small one downstairs.” Sylvain grins as he wanted to add a bathtub to one bathroom. Maybe after her pregnancy, he and Byleth can take a nice warm…

“Oh and the doctor told me to refrain from sex.” Byleth replies as he was lost in thought about the “nice warm bath”.

“Wait?! WHAT?!” He pouts sadly looking at her with an upset face.

“Mr. Philanderer!” She flicks his forehead as he gasped “ouch!” from the small pain.

“Hmmm… That’s fine.” He sighed defeated. “I wouldn’t want our baby… heck, even you, get hurt from me.” He observed her body and slowly brought his hands to her tummy to feel the not-yet-visible baby.

“After all.” He grinned at her. “I’m insatiable.” He winks and she chuckled as he rubbed her belly.

“Oh Sylvain. I was joking about the sex.” She blushed as he showered some affection to her small growing lump.

“Yeah?! That’s great!” He grins. She laughed as he brought her to his lap. He held her waist pressing her back to his chest.

“Oh Thank Goodness.” He sighed in relief while burying his head on her shoulder.

“But really, if the doctor told us to refrain… would you?” Byleth asked again curious to know his answer.

“I would.” Sylvain whispered to her ears. “If anything happened to you or the baby…” Sylvain leaned closer holding her tighter in his arms.

“I would never forgive myself.” Sylvain said so softly that it warmed her heart.

Byleth did not reply. She just held his hand on his waist satisfied _on just having him with her today_.

“I’m going to take a longer shift at my work then.” Sylvain suddenly sweeps Byleth up carrying her bridal style and twirls her around.

Byleth smiled as her arms encircled his shoulders taking a moment to enjoy this **_special moment_** with him.

But then…

Sylvain had to bring Byleth back to the bathroom because she felt nauseous from their “twirling”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: (Fluff, no smut because I'm terrible)  
> Maia runs into trouble at school and Daddy! Sylvain helps her from FERDINAND VON AEGIR (Jr.), some flashbacks of Ashe and Ingrid's baby shower (Sylvain and Byleth don't like to have baby showers because they want a surprise) and the winner of the Fodlan elections.
> 
> Place your bets on who you think won the elections in the comments below. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> Thank you for the feedback. Much appreciated. 
> 
> No One:  
> Felix: W H Y AM I E V E N H E R E ?


	6. Skirt Chaser

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some Daddy! Sylvain moments and basically interactions with the other characters too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short Background of Characters mentioned in the story
> 
> Dorothea- An actress and singer. She recently released a new album and announced her tour around Fodlan. She and Ferdinand are married and have a son, named Ferdinand Jr., whom she affectionately calls “Freddy”. 
> 
> Seteth- A famous author for children's books.
> 
> Bernadetta- A famous illustrator for children's books. 
> 
> Therese - (An NPC) mother of Selene's classmate.

_Felix ate silently enjoying the sugar free cookies that Annette made him. He is currently an intern teaching Archery and Physical Exercise in the University of Garreg Mach. He plans to finish his Master’s degree in a few months and his friend, Annette, just happens to pass by his shared office to bring him some cookies. They decided to take a walk around the town to get to know the “secret places” around the University although their walk was interrupted when Annette spotted something unusual in that area._

_“Pssst… Felix!” Annette tugged the arm of Felix, who was busy eating a sugar free cookie._

_Annette was specifically pointing to a restaurant across the street where there was a scandalous scene unfolding in front of them._

_“What is it?” He stared at her direction only to focus on a specific playboy and an unidentified woman seated outside a restaurant. The ‘couple’ had been eating and laughing talking about something intimate._

_“T-That bastard!” Felix crushed his biscuit instantly upon seeing his childhood friend touching the woman’s shoulders. Felix’s eyes burned with rage as he watched his childhood friend leaning closer to the woman and whispering something that made her giggle. The woman ruffled her hands on his hair making him laugh as well._

_“Felix, what should we do? This will break Byleth’s heart.” Annette looked at him concerned knowing that the man seated over there is undoubtedly, Sylvain Jose Gautier, the famous skirt chaser._

_“I’ll kill him.” He takes out a pocket knife from his bag only to be stopped by Annette._

_“Felix! You’re horrible! I think that’s too much!” She grabbed his arm using both of her hands to keep him in place. Felix struggled impressed with Annette’s strength despite her petite appearance. Felix watched his friend squirmed seeing the sweat on her face. He knew how much she worried about him and he wouldn’t make it this far in his career if it wasn’t for her. He sighed as he relaxed his arm._

_“Ugh… Fine.” He surrenders putting the pocket knife back at his bag._

_“Whew! Close one!” Annette wiped the sweat on her brow and took a deep breath relieved that he won’t do any drastic measures against his childhood friend._

_“Let’s confront that bastard!” Felix stormed across the street (there were no vehicles passing by to his relief) and Annette anxiously followed him. She knows that Felix won’t hesitate to be frank with anyone and especially when it comes to Sylvain Jose Gautier, who Felix often berated even during their university days._

_When they both reach the restaurant, they immediately hid under a bush. Felix gently pushes Annette’s head down to avoid ‘the bastard’ from seeing them and running away._

_“Horrible bastard! Dating a girl while wearing your wedding ring.” Felix stared intently furious wanting to literally kill the man for hurting his colleague, Byleth._

_“Byleth’s pregnant too, with their first child!” Annette observed her former schoolmate and frowned as he held the woman’s hand._

_“Annette, take a picture.” Felix said firmly and following with a soft “Please” to his colleague as she nodded to his instruction._

_“You got it.” Annette took out her smart phone and aimed the camera on the skirt chaser._

_“Alright, then I’ll send this to Byle---“ She opened her chat app to send the picture._

_“Excuse me, Sir and Madam.” The waiter stood behind the two colleagues as they jerked in response._

_The two bumped into each other and stared back at the waiter who gazed back unimpressed with their strange behavior._

_“Do you need a seat?” The waiter asked peculiarly wondering why these two people were hiding behind the bush._

_“No!” Ignoring the waiter, Felix stood up and walked over the bush with heavy steps._

_“F-Felix! Wait!” Annette followed almost tripping on her steps as she follows him towards the “secret couple”._

_Sylvain was happily chatting with the woman but paused when he silently stared at Felix with wide eyes._

_“F-Felix! What are you doing here?” He looked at Felix, who only stared at him irritated with his behavior._

_Felix didn’t say a word and he instantly grabbed the philanderer’s shirt forcing Sylvain to stand up._

_“You bastard!” Felix shook him causing Sylvain to push him._

_“What the hell, Felix?” Sylvain moved back in response defending himself to his childhood friend’s sudden outburst. The whole restaurant fell silent as they stare at the two men causing a scene._

_“That woman! You are dating her!” Felix pointed at the woman who stared at the irritated man in front of her frightened gripping her chest._

_“Yeah of course I am! Gotta give her a good time!” Sylvain folded his arms proudly telling this to his childhood friend._

_“BASTARD!” Felix’s hands clenched into a fist but Annette stopped him just in time._

_“W-Wait!” Annette screamed as Felix’s hand tightens in indignation to what Sylvain said to him._

_“F-Felix! T-That’s professor Byleth’s mother! Sorry… I was figuring out why she looked so familiar. I saw her picture in Byleth’s desk. ” Annette said._

_“…”_

_Felix paused for a long time and slowly he lowers his hands to his side._

_“What’s going on here?” Byleth appears at their back wondering about the loud commotion when she was using the toilet._

_“Ah Byleth!” Sylvain runs to his wife passing by Felix only to be stopped by Felix’s grip on Sylvain shirt._

_“Y-You!!!!!” Felix’s eyes glared daggers at him making Sylvain concerned._

_“What’s wrong, Felix? Jealous that I have two dates today. Oh wait! Three!” Sylvain smiled as he remembered about Byleth’s recent pregnancy._

_Felix gritted his teeth and finally, his wrath consumes him._

_**“I’LL CUT YOU DOWN!”** _

_The only sound heard was Annette screaming **“You’re evil Felix!”**_

_After the misunderstanding was sorted out, Felix and Annette were invited to eat with the couple. They also ‘formally’ meet Byleth’s mother, Sitri, during dinner who asked if Felix and Annette were a “couple”. The pair immediately denied this while their faces turned bright red in color._

…

“I still remember that memory years ago!” Sylvain chuckles as Felix looked at him uninterested slightly embarrassed with his fits of anger towards his friend a long time ago.

“What do you expect? You were a skirt chaser! It was the only possible situation I could think of!” Felix glares at him as Sylvain laughs more.

“But do I still give that impression?” Sylvain winks at him making Felix sigh.

“Not…at the moment.” Felix says as he closes his eyes.

“Aww… shucks Felix. Glad to see that I’m improving!” Sylvain smiles to his close friend who took some of his free time from work to visit him at his part-time job.

“Oh before I forget… Ingrid wanted me to give this to you.” Felix hands over a professionally decorated card from Ingrid. Sylvain carefully opens the card and he smiles.

“Hey, Ashe and Ingrid’s baby shower!” Sylvain said surprised that the two finally made time for a baby.

“Yeah, those ‘baby showers’ seem to be the current trend here in Fodlan. Makes me sick.” Felix sighs.

“So…Are you going?” Sylvain asks as he wonders how Felix would manage seeing children and families all together celebrating the gender reveal of a baby.

“Ugh, honestly I don’t want to go… but it’s Ingrid… and…” Felix murmurs until Annette enters the café.

“Hey Sylvain.” Annette waves at her former schoolmate.

“Hi Annette.” Sylvain bows a little proceeding to clear out the table of Felix.

“Are you going to the baby shower?” Annette stared at Sylvain eager for his response.

“Yeah, I’ll just discuss this with my wife, but I think we would go.” Sylvain grins as Annette claps her hands excitedly.

“Yay! I get to spend time with your children!” Annette hums a happy tune about sharing the bubbles she made in one of her classes to Sylvain’s children.

“I bet they would be delighted to see you again, especially Selene.” Sylvain recalls his second child always asking for ‘Auntie Annette’ at home when she plays with anything liquid because Annette would always bring the children “homemade” toys for them to explore.

“Annette, we need to go home.” Felix stands up and pushes back his chair. He strides over to Annette and gives Sylvain a pat on the shoulder.

“Guess I’ll see seeing you.” Felix said and Sylvain picks up something from his speech.

“So… you and Annette live together now.” Sylvain teases causing the two to halt in their tracks.

”Uh… Yeah.” Annette blushes. “We are roommates.”

“Living in the same room?” Sylvain asks curiously with a wry smile.

“N-No! Of course not!” The two retaliated in sync and hurriedly said “see you!” as they walked out the door.

“Hmph. Those two.” Sylvain laughs remembering Byleth telling him stories about seeing those two in their own “lovers tryst”. He pondered how Felix got so bold in sharing a place with Annette.

…

After Sylvain’s part-time work, he takes a bus to pick up his children from school.

When he comes closer to the preschool building, he spots Selene and Symon playing with each other in the slides. Mr. Emile was in charge of paying close attention to the children in the playground after school. Sylvain waves to Mercedes to motion that he would pick up his kids.

“Selene! Symon! Daddy is here!” Mercedes’ loud voice was heard from the gate and the children instantly ran towards their father.

“Daddy!” Selene ran faster following Symon behind. Sylvain crouched down to their level to scoop them up into their arms. The children were both carried by Sylvain’s strong tender arms.

“Hello Selene.” Sylvain kisses his daughter’s cheeks and then moving to Symon’s cheeks “Hello, Symon.” The two children giggled with their father’s affections and they kiss him back in response.

Sylvain was always the center of attention every time he picks up the children because he is always surrounded by several mothers by the gate. There seem to be less stay at home fathers in Garreg Mach and he was ridiculed by his own parents when they found out about it. Some mothers also want to have a small chat with him; curious about his personal life as a father and a “househusband”. Some people would even comment about it in their conversations with him. Sylvain finds it utterly ridiculous with people’s biased and closed-minded perceptions about men wanting to be stay at home fathers. He would always retaliate by telling them “Well, have you tried to be a loving father at home spending most of your time with the children you love? Why don’t you try my job and understand it for yourselves?” He would snicker and add “Heh- It’s very rewarding, I tell ya.”

“Mr. Gautier.” Mercedes called his attention sweetly. “The children forgot their bags.” She smiled.

“Oh no, you two always forget.” He puts his children down on the ground and they rush to Mr. Emile who helps the children wear their backpacks properly. They rush back to Sylvain and hugged his legs lovingly indirectly telling him to carry them.

“Oh you two. I wish you could stay in preschool longer so I could carry you more.” He contemplates how Maia has gotten taller making it difficult for him to carry her. Since he couldn’t resist the charm of his two younger children, he gently picks them on his arms with ease and the children instinctively held on to their father.

“Sylvain!” A mother calls him as he leaves thru the gate.

“Oh hey, Therese.” Sylvain turns to look at her and the young mother enjoyed seeing his two children cuddling into his chest. Therese’s daughter and Selene are classmates. Sylvain would often see her pick up her daughter at the same time as him.

“My husband’s coming by tomorrow to pick up my daughter.” Therese smiles and her gaze goes back to her daughter rushing to her from the gate. Therese picks up her daughter who waves at Sylvain and the children.

“Hello!” Selene waves back to her classmate.

“Hi!” Symon waves back to the girl.

“I hope you can give him some advice.” Therese laughs and Sylvain just chuckled back uncomfortable knowing how famous he is in the preschool highly contrasting his reputation as skirt chaser during his university days.

“Advice? I’m not really good at that?” He replies a little flustered.

“Well, I think if he saw you. He would be inspired. Maybe he would be able to show more affection to his daughter.” Therese replies favorably seeing how devoted Sylvain is with his children.

“Haha. Thanks.” He gives a smile. Therese told him one time that her husband works a lot in the cathedral and barely spends time with his daughter. Sylvain befriended the woman because she reminded him of his mother-in-law, Sitri, who tells him stories of her and Jeralt.

“See you again. Take care.” Therese and her daughter wave goodbye as Sylvain took another corner of the road on the way to Maia’s school.

…

When they arrived, a teacher told Sylvain to wait inside the school since Maia had an incident with her classmate, Ferdinand Von Aegir Jr. and the class teacher, Leonie, is currently talking with the other teachers about this incident.

Sylvain sighs. Maia seems to inherit the Gautier personality. She causes trouble in school by playing ‘house’ with many of her male classmates and her most frequent playmate is Ferdinand. Maia’s also fearless and would often act before she thinks. She is also in the process of learning how to be more polite in talking with other children. Leonie thinks that it is because she’s the oldest at home, she can simply ‘boss’ her siblings around.

Sylvain sighs again.

“Daddy?” Symon asks as he observes Selene opening her backpack to take out a story book that Sylvain bought when Byleth was pregnant with Selene.

“You want me to read it?” Sylvain asks ruffling his son’s hair.

“Please.” Symon asks pleadingly and Selene follows.

“Okay…Okay…” He takes the book from Selene’s hands and the two children snuggle beside him from the bench.

“The title of the book is ‘My new baby’. The story is made by Seteth and Illustrated by Bernadetta.” Sylvain flips the page and a drawing of a young baby appears in the first few pages.

“A baby!” Selene excitedly says as she concentrated on the book.

“My mommy is pregnant. She is carrying my baby sibling.” Sylvain points to the picture of a woman carrying a child. Symon scoots closer on Sylvain’s lap to take a look at the woman in the picture.

Sylvain takes an opportunity to ask an inquiring question to his children. “Does this remind you of someone?”

“Mommy!” Symon replied understanding the concept of the story to real life situations.

“Mommy is carrying a baby!” Selene uses her hands to form a shape of a larger stomach and Sylvain smiled amused at his two bright children.

“How do you know she is pregnant?” He asks challenging them.

“Um… Mom’s stomach got a little teeny tiny bigger?” Selene looks at her father confused.

“You can check it at the doctor. I’ll show you a picture when the baby gets bigger.” Sylvain chuckles and kisses the girl for trying to answer a difficult question. Sylvain then goes back to the book.

“A girl or boy? I don’t know.” Sylvain follows the book.

“But I know that daddy and mommy will make a bed for the baby.”

“Is that the bed in Symon’s room?” Selene asks and Sylvain tells her “Yes, it will be for the baby.” Sylvain continues and he goes to the next page of book.

“The baby will be born soon and mommy will have to stay in the hospital for a while.” He flips the page.

“When the baby is born, the baby will cry a lot.” Symon gently opens the flap on the illustration revealing a happy baby.

“But the baby will also smile.” Sylvain reads and he turns the page.

“I can also help my baby sibling.” He stops and asks his children. “With what?”

“Kisses!” Selene shouts and Sylvain flips the book to reveal a picture of a young girl kissing her baby sibling.

“Smiles!” Symon replies as the book revealed a picture of two children smiling at their baby sibling.

“But most of all…” Sylvain turns the page and the two children said it in sync.

“We love our baby sibling!” Symon turns the book and closes it with his two small hands.

“The end!” Selene smiles and puts the book back on her backpack.

“You really like that book.” Sylvain smiles as Selene nods back to him. He made a mental note of buying more books from the author soon.

…

“My my, Mr. Gautier. Such a sweet father.” A voice was heard from another bench and Sylvain turns to look at the familiar voice.

“Mrs. Von Aegir.” Sylvain mocks her a bit making her flinch.

“Oh just call me Dorothea as always.” The songstress smiles at him making Sylvain frown a bit.

“You are here because of Ferdinand?” Sylvain raises his brow curious with her intentions.

“Oh yes Freddy.” Dorothea sighs. “He’s been to a lot of trouble lately.”

“Yup. He has some trouble with my daughter as well or I think she gives him trouble” The two parents just laughed as they both understand the situation. They often meet after all because the children are quite close to each other and would often stir up trouble.

“Ah. I’m sorry about that actually.” Dorothea sighs but when she was going to continue. The two children stood up from the bench.

“Daddy, can we play in the playground?” Selene asks and Sylvain shakes his head.

“Selene, you can’t play there because those are for big kids. I don’t want you to get hurt. When you get older, you can play there.” Selene grimaces to his reply.

“Why don’t you draw instead?” As Sylvain takes out the crayons from her bag, Leonie calls the two parents inside the building.

…

Leonie tells Sylvain that Maia is in the guidance office for hitting her friend, Ferdinand, and that it would be sufficient if he can talk to her inside. Sylvain quietly went inside the office and the two children played in the other corner of the room giving enough space for Sylvain to have a chat with Maia.

“Sorry Mr. Gautier, Maia didn’t want to tell us anything or apologize to Ferdinand.” Leonie said as calmly as possible.

“We just want to understand why Maia hit him.” The guidance counselor said while bringing them a glass of water and giving the two their space to talk.

“Hey beautiful.” Sylvain sat down beside her on the couch. Maia gazed at her father. Sylvain noticed that she wanted to cry but prefers not to.

“Maia, what’s wrong?” Sylvain comes closer not holding her yet and she looks away from him.

“Maia, if you keep holding on to your tears. You won’t bloom as wonderful like a flower in the garden.” Sylvain mentions trying to cheer the girl up using his old flirtatious language.

“I won’t be able to know if you don’t tell me.” Sylvain pats the girls back and it comforted her.

“I hate … Ferdinand.” Maia said trying to hold her whimper.

“He deserves it.” She continues.

“Why?” Sylvain asks softly.

“He said…” Maia clenches her fist. Her face staring at the ground and tears started to fall from her eyes.

“He said I’m weak because my daddy stays at home! So I punched him in the face!”

Soon the young girl burst into tears and she leans on her father’s chest. Sylvain patted the girl’s back trying his best not to carry her into is arms.

“I’m sorry daddy!” She sobs.

“I won’t do it again!”

“Yeah, I know. Thank you for telling daddy how you feel.” Sylvain continued rubbing her back until she calmed down.

…

There a small meeting with Leonie, Dorothea and Sylvain.

Dorothea bowed down to both of the adults as she looked deeply concerned.

“Please I ask for your forgiveness on my son.” Dorothea said softly feeling guilty on the way her son acted.

“You see… after the elections, my husband was appointed as the secretary of a cabinet member and he only comes home at least 3 days per week. I, on the other hand, recently published a new album so I often left my son in the care of a nanny. I plan to go on a tour soon, but unfortunately Freddy does not like the nanny too well. My husband told my son to be strong while he works away… so I think that’s how Freddy treated Maia today.”

Leonie encouraged Dorothea to keep on working with her son despite the problems with schedule. Dorothea decided to spend at least 3 days a week with her son leaving the remaining 3 days to his father.

“Dorothea.” Sylvain interrupts the talk.

“There are 7 days in a week. You would spend time with your son for 3 days and the 3 remaining days are spent with your husband. There is only one remaining day, and that would be with the nanny that Ferdinand loathes so much?” Sylvain asks doubtful on Dorothea’s plan.

“I have no choice.” Dorothea sighs dejectedly not knowing what to do.

“Hey, the boy does not understand how Maia feels, why don’t you let him stay with us once a week? I’ll babysit him along with my children. Maybe Ferdinand can learn a thing or two about dads working at home?”

Dorothea stares at him surprised at his statement.

“A-Are you sure?” She asks as Sylvain grins.

“Of course, the service is not free though. I need a little income too, you know.” Sylvain stretches his arms behind his back.

“Your wife won’t be mad?” Dorothea asks.

“I’ll have a chat with her and we can negotiate about the price.” He winks making Dorothea laugh.

“Besides… It would be nice for the children to have an older brother, if you get what I mean.” Sylvain gazes at his own children at the table busy drawing on paper.

“Aww thanks, Sylvain! That’s such a big help. Ferdinand doesn’t have any siblings so it would be great to have a good friend, and maybe I can have a daughter-in-law in the future!” Dorothea teases and Sylvain frowns silently remembering his imagination of seeing Ferdinand and Maia getting married.

“No, you are not taking my children away from me!” Sylvain shouts back instinctively in a defensive father mode and this only made Dorothea want to tease him more.

Later that night, Sylvain had a chat with Byleth about this and she enthusiastically agreed with the arrangement. Every Friday, Ferdinand would stay with the Gautiers and the next day, his father, Ferdinand Von Aegir, will come to pick him up from the house in the morning after breakfast. In the Gautier home, Ferdinand experienced the warmth of a loving home he fondly recalls on eating dinners together, reading books together, strolls in the park, and he enjoyed listening to Byleth’s baby bump.

The boy’s behavior changed from seeing the interactions of ‘Uncle Sylvain’ and ‘Auntie Byleth’ with the children. Ferdinand was able to encourage his parents to adjust their schedules to eat dinner together as a much as possible. He also asked his father if he could have another sibling and the father was ecstatic in thinking of naming the child, Ferdinand Von Aegir, III (the third).

…

After a few weeks, it was finally the day of Ashe and Ingrid’s baby shower. It was _almost_ a whole class reunion because Dimitri and Dedue were not present on that day.

With a large crowd, some children, and family members, it was quite a busy celebration. It became busier when Symon starts exhibit some tantrums being in his “terrible twos” stage.

“It’s MINEEEEE!!!!” Symon screams as he grabs the last blue balloon on the side. Another child around his age was taking it from him and they both start to fight for the balloon.

The balloon suddenly pops and the two children cried.

“Here take the pink one!” Ferdinand (Jr.) gave Symon a balloon only for the child to throw it away and scream more.

“Blue one!” Symon shrieks in pain having difficulty to understand that there are no more blue balloons in the party.

“There is a pink one!” Maia hands over another pink balloon again only making the child toss it away further.

“Daddy! Symon’s crying.” Selene runs to her father, who is having a chat with Ashe and Felix.

“Oh daddy duties.” Ashe nervously smiles observing Sylvain running towards the crying boy and putting the boy on a stool where he could calm down.

“Just wait until you reach that kind of pain.” Felix pats the soon-to-be-father as he gulps. Ashe soon felt comfort as he watches Sylvain kneeling down on eye level with the toddler talking to him and he was quite firm in talking with the boy. Ashe felt nervous, yet there is a feeling of excitement in finding out what kind of father he would be.

A large truck appeared with the logo ‘DAB with the new cabinet member of Fodlan’. Maia instantly took notice on this and she ran towards her mother, who was chatting with Mercedes and Ingrid.

“Mommy! Dimitri is here! He is here!” Maia jumped up and down excitedly to see her “prince”. Byleth only laughed as she took the girl’s hand.

“Maia, calm down. He is only a politician just like my father!” Ferdinand sighs as he holds ‘Auntie’ Byleth’s hand as well.

“Dimitriiiiii!” Maia walks towards the truck and the back of the truck opened to reveal two politicians inside.

“C-Claude? The winner of the elections!” Someone from the crowd screams and Claude jumps down from the truck as a hoard of people rush to see him.

Dimitri looking famished from losing the elections saw the young girl running towards him. Dimitri’s mood shifted to something more contented as he sees his biggest fan ran towards him.

“Maia!” He opens his arms and the girl immediately jumps into his arms.

“Prince Dimitriiiiiiii!” She hugged him as he carried her heavy body.

“Dimitri, glad you can come.” Byleth smiled at her former student who nodded back. He glances at the young boy hiding at Byleth’s back.

“Hey, isn’t that Ferdinand’s kid?” Dimitri looked puzzled on how the boy was able to attend this ‘baby shower’.

“We are taking care of him today. We babysit the boy.” Byleth patted the boy’s hair who only gripped on her clothes a little anxious on seeing another politician in the party.

“Dimitri! You are late.” Ingrid walked towards him brushing his sweaty face with a tissue.

“Sorry, I had some errands to do.” Dimitri stares at Claude who currently was busy with taking selfies with Ashe’s family.

“I heard you were hired by Claude to be his advisor.” Sylvain appeared and when he glances at his daughter on Dimitri’s arms he got a little jealous.

“A-And what are you doing with my daughter!” He tries to take the girl off Dimitri’s arms but Maia held the man tighter.

“Daddy, Dimitri’s going to play prince and princess with me!” Maia huffs holding on to her “hero”. Sylvain hesitates taking her after seeing the girl so happy. He remembered that when Maia was a baby. Dimitri had a really bad depression and one of the reasons why he overcame it was because Sylvain allowed him to spend time with Maia in therapy sessions. Dimitri even admitted to Sylvain that he thinks of her like his own daughter. Sylvain later sobs on Byleth’s lap _again_ after seeing how her daughter admires the man more than him.

Sylvain’s worries did not falter when Maia sees Dedue going down from the truck. She jumps off Dimitri’s arms and runs to the heavy build man. Dedue chuckled as he picked her up and instantly putting her down afraid to inflict any kind of harm on the child.

“Dedueeeee! I miss you!” Maia laughs as Dedue pats the girl’s head.

“Mom! Dad!” Selene shouts as her parents turn to look at her only to see Annette and Felix holding on to both her arms looking exactly like a married couple with a child.

Ashe and Ingrid jokingly mention it making the two deny it again.

With the arrival of Dimitri, Dedue, and Claude the reunion is complete and Ingrid and Ashe decided to cut the cake to reveal the gender of their baby.

“3”

“2”

“1”

“CUT THE CAKE!”

The color blue was shown inside the cake and everyone yelled enthusiastically.

Ashe and Ingrid are having a boy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your feedback.
> 
> I will be editing the previous chapters for any grammar mistakes I can notice.
> 
> Next Chapter: Sylvain and Byleth's new baby and some added content.


	7. Something to believe in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Byleth is a University professor and Sylvain is a loving househusband. They now have four children.

Sylvain dislikes a quiet home.

He wanted his home to be filled with laughter and noise with his children and seeing it so empty dampened his mood. He wishes that time would pass by fast so that the children can stay home by summer vacation or school breaks, so he can take them to the park or somewhere fun. There are also times he misses the young boy, Ferdinand. Although he turns into protected father mode every time Ferdinand plays “house” with Maia.

Sylvain took a long sigh as he watches the clock in the kitchen. In three more hours he would be able to pick up the children. He leans his back on the chair waiting for the laundry to be finished so he can hang them outside.

The sound of his smartphone distracted his boredom and he looked at the caller ID hoping that it would be his beloved wife or even Mercedes telling him that the children will be going home early. However, the caller ID popped out as Ingrid.

“Ingrid…” He raised his brow wondering why his childhood friend calls him around this hour. He thought that she must have been so busy with the company ever since she obtained the rights of owning the family business of the Fraldarius family, which was Felix’s family business.

Then it hit him remembering that he and his wife went to visit Ingrid in the hospital before.

“Ah, she gave birth a few months ago.” He gave a small smile and picked up the phone.

“SYLVAAAAIN!”

Sylvain jerked with the sudden scream almost scaring him. His heart thumped from the helpless voice on the other line. It was not Ingrid, but it was Ashe’s crying pleas.

“A-Ashe? What’s wrong?” Sylvain managed to muster a reply while hearing an infant’s cry from the other end.

“I DID EVERYTHING. MY SON... HE COULDN’T STOP CRYING. PLEASE HELP ME!” Ashe did sound very desperate and Sylvain got worried for the new father. He understands how Ashe must feel as he had very similar experiences with raising his own children.

“Hey, Hey, calm down.” Sylvain said softly trying to calm the new father.

“I-I can’t! I’m so worried! What if my son is sick? What if he hates me when he grows up?!” Ashe stutters almost sobbing. Sylvain knew that the young father just needed a little encouragement.

“Don’t worry Ashe. It’s really like that when you first start taking care of babies.”

“But I don’t know what to do!” Ashe’s exasperated reply led Sylvain to think of possible solutions for calming the young baby.

“Did you change his diapers?”

“Yes.”

“Did you feed him?”

“Ingrid just breastfed him an a few minutes ago.”

“Do you think he’s sick?”

“No, I checked the temperature and everything. I even called a doctor and they said he’s fine!” Ashe pleads as the cries of the infant got louder.

“Maybe it’s too noisy outside? The windows are maybe too bright for the child.”

“Oh…” Sylvain could hear Ashe ruffling some items.

“Alright… I closed the windows.”

“Now sing him a nice song.”

“S-Song? I don’t know any song.”

“Come on Ashe! A good father must know a single nursery rhyme!” Sylvain chuckled remembering how Ashe used to scold Sylvain’s flirting back in the university days and now here they are and it’s Sylvain’s turn to give a few pointers for Ashe.

“Umm… Maybe ‘ _A long run to the Great Bridge of Myrddin_ ’ is that alright?” Ashe hesitates as he thought of other songs to sing.

“Hey, that’s great song! Nice thinking Ashe!” Sylvain’s voice encouraged Ashe a little and the young father starts to sing.

_“Let’s run to the Airmid River, inside the Empire, outside the Alliance._

_Let’s run, run, run and over to the Kingdom.”_

Sylvain hears Ashe saying it a few times until the infant’s cries became softer and soon came to a halt.

Sylvain then hears a woman’s voice.

“Ashe, are you alright? Sorry I just got home from the grocery. How is he?” Sylvain recognizes Ingrid’s soft voice.

“Oh… I think he’s doing fine.” Ashe whispers and Sylvain hears Ingrid taking the young infant from Ashe.

After a few seconds, Ashe’s voice comes back to the line.

“Sylvain… Thank you.” Ashe whispers and Sylvain smiled to see the young father relieved and relaxed.

“No Ashe, you did all yourself. I was honestly just guessing.” Sylvain laughs and he hears the laundry finish.

“W-What? Guessing? You can’t be serious, are you?” Ashe replied quite shocked that it was probably one of Sylvain’s old tricks.

“Uh yeah… I mean, I did the same to all my children. I just guessed.” Sylvain grinned on the other end.

“Huuuh?! You also heard me sing such an embarrassing song!” Ashe groaned feeling so embarrassed on letting Sylvain hear his singing voice.

“Aww, don’t worry Ashe! That’s good practice when you comfort your child. I know you are going to use it for the next… five years?” Sylvain laughs remembering Maia getting fed up with nursery rhymes around 6 years old.

“Um… alright.” Ashe sighs defeated that Sylvain does have a point, a very good point, in truth.

“Good.”

“Sylvain…” Ashe hesitates and he fumbles his words. “Every time I see you, it’s like you got everything in control. I’m a little jealous. I wish I could be a good father like you.”

Sylvain chortles a little remembering how the mothers at preschool tell him the same thing.

“Ashe, I’m not a good father. I do make mistakes.” Sylvain admits.

“R-Really?”

“Yeah… There was a time I brought Selene to school and she told me that she wanted to be with me instead. You know what I did?”

“Oh… What did you do?”

“I didn’t let her go to school. We just spent the day at home playing and the next day, she kept on crying and hugging me, telling me that she didn’t want to go to school, _ever_. She developed a very bad separation anxiety because of my coddling. It took around two weeks until she settled back in preschool.”

“Aww man. That’s so tough.”

“When Maia was around Symon’s age, I always carried her and she became so dependent with my carrying that she threw a really bad tantrum every time Byleth wanted her to walk outside.” 

“But you did so well with taking care of Symon? I saw you at the baby shower and you managed him so well.”

“I did learn from my past mistakes, but with Symon he tends to be spoiled since he’s the youngest. Well, currently the youngest. I would often use my extra money to buy him whatever he wants and there are times when I refuse, he couldn’t take no for an answer. He would throw items around and scream.”

“But how did you manage all of that?” Ashe asked quite unsettled.

“I tried my best. I read about the _time out strategy_ and calming children down before you talk to them.”

“Oh my, I need to read a lot of books then…” Ashe’s felt overwhelmed and Sylvain picked up Ashe's mood from his voice.

“Actually Ashe, Parenting is a learning process. You learn more as the children grow. So don’t worry about it. Comfort them, cuddle them, but don’t forget to teach them the right way. Just do your best. I see that you did your very best today and your son fell right asleep.”

“Sylvain…”

“You are doing great, Ashe. You did well today. I wish I could be there to congratulate you. Heh Heh.” Hearing a few words of encouragement makes Ashe sob bit from the other end, relieved from his negative thoughts of being a “bad father”.

“You know Sylvain, all of us were really surprised on how much you changed these past few years.” Ashe laughs at the other end and Sylvain felt that Ashe was trying to wipe away his tears.

“Oh yeah?”

"Yeah you did. Ingrid was very surprised. You started going home early, you took cooking classes with Dedue, you studied so hard in the university. I have never seen such a diligent person..."

"Maybe, I just found the right person who took over my heart." Sylvain joked a little flirtatiously in his voice as he remembers about Byleth.

"You even changed your phone and number after you dated the professor. I wonder what spell did the professor had done to get you to change." Ashe laughs remembering how everyone used to be so surprised about this change in character.

"Whatever it was, It encouraged me to make her happy. I mean... sometimes I worry that I won't make her happy. But...Like I said, you better make Ingrid happy, or else!"

“Thanks Sylvain. I hope it’s alright to call you again next time?” Ashe asked a little motivated from talking with someone with experience.

“Sure, why not? Let’s learn from each other.”

“That’s great. See you then.”

The two fathers said ‘goodbye’ and drops the phone call.

Sylvain glances at the clock and he smiled.

“Two more hours and I can see my beautiful children.” He was thankful that Ashe managed to spend some time to shorten the time until he gets to see his children.

Sylvain stands up and stretches a bit and proceeds to hang the laundry outside, and later cooks up a nice warm dinner for his family.

…

“Ashe called you?” Byleth stops before she could take a sip from the _Fish and Bean Soup_ that Sylvain made for dinner. The whole family plus Ferdinand (Jr.) spent the evening delighting a warm dinner of soup and chicken.

“Yeah. Fatherhood is really getting to him. I gave him a few advice.”

“What advice did you give?” Byleth lowered her eyes and looked at him unimpressed remembering his past tricks with his old classmates and his infamous philandering ways.

“Hey! Of course, I gave him valuable advice, baby! I taught him how to soothe a crying infant!” Sylvain grunts seeing his wife unconvinced with his own classmates looking up to him.

Byleth distracts herself from him and takes a sip of the soup, unable to comprehend that Sylvain actually gave _fatherly advice_ to his own classmates, knowing that the children he raises are also her kids. This makes her wonder how in the world did she ended up with him, but realizes how grateful she is to see him change _so much_ after their marriage. She dismisses her thoughts as she enjoyed the soup. The soup seems to calm her thoughts down, not only does it taste delicious but it somehow takes like ‘ _love_ ’ from him.

“Hmmm…You should start having parenting lectures at the university.” Byleth smiles looking at him and Sylvain just paused seeing his wife. Her gaze just makes him _melt_ even after all her unimpressed comments and teasing.

“Uh… Yeah! I would be glad to … Well, if you will allow it. I would love to see my wife as often as possible.” Sylvain raises his hand in a fist excited on the proposition of his wife.

“Oh Sylvain…” Byleth’s gaze on him softened enjoying the way he shows affection on her. She recalls the time when Selene cried so much from separation anxiety in school that Sylvain made her a bracelet for her to wear when she goes to school to remind her that ‘daddy promises to come back for her’. Another was the time when Sylvain pretended to be a ‘monster’ so Maia could run outside instead of being carried by him, and she fondly remembers Sylvain being firm from Symon’s tantrum by placing the boy in a chair calming him down. The young boy later apologizes to his father for his actions and Sylvain cuddled the crying child, relieved that the boy understands about the consequences of his actions.

 _'He's a sweet father.'_ Byleth says to herself.

“Sorry… Uncle Sylvain… I would like some more soup, Please.”

Ferdinand’s small and awkward voice was heard and the couple knew that he was quite shy to them especially when asking for more food.

“Oh sure, coming right up.” Sylvain grins and he pours more soup to Ferdinand, who is seated in front of him.

“Thanks Uncle Sylvain.” Ferdinand smiles as he takes another sip from the soup.

“I told you my daddy is the best! He makes the best food!” Maia nudges Ferdinand, who is seated beside her.

“Nuh uh! My daddy governs in the government! He is the splendor of nobility!” Ferdinand huffs in pride and this makes Maia look at him weirdly.

“Hmmm… Too bad, your daddy won’t be here for you today.” Maia smirks and Ferdinand paused and his face fell miserable. Ferdinand will be staying with the Gautier’s for a month since his mother had to go on a singing tour and his father went abroad to establish good relations with the neighboring regions around Fodlan.

“Maia.”

Sylvain’s face glared looking at the young girl. It was that look that automatically gave a warning to young children that their parents are not letting them get away with it, and that they have done something that's not right.

“Ah!” Maia gulped seeing her father serious.

“Sorry Ferdinand.” Her face fell as well remembering that her father gave her a long talk about the situation of Ferdinand. Sylvain had a big whiteboard in Maia and Selene’s room and he drew pictures to illustrate for the children to understand the feelings of the young boy.

“Maia, you know that Ferdinand’s parents are very busy. We should understand him. Let’s be nice to him.” Byleth also scolded the young girl and she pouted guilty for making an insensitive comment.

“Sorry Mommy…” Maia looked at her father. “Sorry Daddy.” She then looks at Ferdinand knowing how the boy must have felt without his parents.

Selene stared at the Ferdinand, who started to sob. She felt bad for him and stood up to give him a hug.

“It’s okay Ferdinand. We are here.” Selene pats his fluffy hair and Symon hands over a tissue across the crying boy. Sylvain and Byleth went over to hug the boy as well.

“The soup will be cold if you don’t finish it.” Sylvain ruffles Ferdinand’s hair and the boy manages to make a smile afterwards.

…

“Here you go.” Sylvain sticks pictures of Ferdinand’s parents on the wall of Symon’s room. Ferdinand smiles as he aids ‘Uncle Sylvain’ to decorate a small corner of the wall. The boy has been sleeping in Symon’s room since Symon’s bed as a function of a long drawer fit for another sleeping mattress when pulled out.

“Thank you Uncle!” Ferdinand looked proud of seeing his parent’s pictures in that corner and he turns to Symon.

“Uncle Sylvain will read us a story now!” Ferdinand gingerly carries Symon to the bed and pulls up the covers for the younger boy.

“Aww Symon really likes you.” Sylvain pats the older boy's shoulder and Ferdinand looks back at his uncle with a small blush, a little proud of being an "older brother".

Ferdinand then opens the drawer of Symon’s bed to pull out another bed underneath.

Sylvain helps Ferdinand tuck the boy into the temporary bed pulling the sheets for the young boy to wrap on his body.

“Princess and the Frog!” Symon points to the bedside table where the book is placed getting Sylvain’s attention.

“Then let’s read this.” Sylvain opens the book and the two boys keenly listened to the story.

Soon, the boys fell asleep as Sylvain closes the book happy to see that the two boys slept properly today. A week ago, the boys would often play rough before bedtime and it was difficult to go and check on them often. However, hard work has it's benefits (like how much he tried to get his wife's heart before) and Sylvain was rewarded with a good sleeping pattern with the boys.

He kisses Symon on the forehead and gently pats the hair of Ferdinand. Sylvain was glad that Ferdinand finds comfort with the pats on the head as he felt the boy relax to his soothing gestures.

“Goodnight, boys.” Sylvain said softly trying not to wake the boys.

He closes the light and quietly closes the door.

…

After Sylvain tucked the boys to sleep, while Byleth tucked the girls to sleep, they both went back to their room to take a good rest, although they couldn’t sleep right away because Sylvain pampered kisses to his unborn child while Byleth sat on the edge of the bed.

“I’ll see you next week.” Sylvain rubbed the bundle of joy in Byleth’s stomach and gave another kiss.

“The doctor said anytime next week.” Byleth patted Sylvain’s head and he grins excited to see his new child.

“Are you sure you wanted a surprise instead of finding out the gender of out baby?” Byleth laughed wondering on all her pregnancies that Sylvain was more anticipated with the birth of their child instead of just finding out via ultrasound.

“It’s more fun that way! I get to feel the baby too!” Sylvain sits on the bed beside his wife and gives her a kiss on the cheek.

“Do you think Ferdinand will be fine? It’s already been almost two weeks.” Byleth stared at her husband worried for the young boy and Sylvain rubbed her back to ease her.

“Ferdinand’s a good boy. I’ll talk to his parents once they come by to pick him up.” Sylvain softly soothes his wife and she smiled.

“Good night kiss?” Sylvain begs and Byleth blushes a little. They both lean in for a kiss but the sound of Sylvain’s phone rang causing Sylvain to open his phone to see that Dorothea was calling him.

“Sylvain! I’m sorry to call you so late! How is Freddy?” Dorothea calls and her voice a little worried.

“He is doing fine. He misses you a lot.” Sylvain sighs knowing that there is a time difference from where Dorothea calls from.

“Aww thanks Sylvain! You are such a big help! I’ll deposit the money tomorrow for Ferdinand. Please take care of my sweet baby. After the tour, I’ll dedicate myself to him more.” Sylvain remembers that the other day, Dorothea released a press conference that she would be quitting from the limelight for her son. Sylvain recalls her crying as she left her son in his care, though Sylvain felt contented when Ferdinand only smiled so wide when he saw his mother in the news announcing her resignation. 

“Thanks Dorothea, Goodnight. Just leave it to us.” Sylvain softly said and he drops the call.

Sylvain then turns to his wife. “Goodnight kiss?” He leans closer to his wife and this time, Byleth’s phone interrupts their moment.

“Ferdinand Von Aegir.” Byleth said and she picked up the call.

“Professor! I’m so sorry to call this late! How is my son?” The politician, Ferdinand, calls from the other end. He used to be Byleth’s student and is now a close business contact helping university students find internship in his office.

“He’s doing fine and misses you a lot. You better come back here soon.” Byleth said (almost repeating her husband's words to Dorothea) and Ferdinand apologizes for that. He mentions that he bought his son a pony in Enbarr and it turns out the couple are planning to move there soon to be able to spend more time with their son.

After the phone call, Sylvain was surprised on the plans for Ferdinand’s parents. Byleth only leans in and gives him a ‘goodnight kiss’ that he craved.

“Going to miss the boy?” Byleth giggled after the kiss making Sylvain blush.

“Um… Yeah… a little. He’s really helpful and he takes care of Selene and Symon.” Sylvain softly mumbles understanding that both he and Byleth treated Ferdinand like family as well.

“Then let’s make this month special then by spending lots of time as a family!” Sylvain kisses his wife again and pulls the sheets to let her lay down on the bed.

“You think Maia’s going to be a good big sister to our new one too?” Byleth wonders as she rubs her pregnant stomach.

“For me, I think all of them will.”

Sylvain kisses his wife’s forehead and lays beside her, ready for bed.

…

Fast forward to a week later, Sylvain woke up to Byleth’s cry.

“Sylvain… my water broke.” Byleth gripped his shirt and Sylvain stood up and stumbled on the floor picking up his phone fumbling his fingers to find his father-in-law, Jeralt, from his contact list.

After he calls him, Sylvain proceeded to grab the ‘ready packed bags’ from the room and ran down the stairs, placing it near the door to be picked up later when Jeralt should arrive to bring them to the hospital.

He rushes back to the room seeing his wife's face suffering from the contractions of child birth.

“S-Sylvain.” She tries to stand up even through the small bits of pain and Sylvain immediately picks her up and brings her down stairs letting her sit on the couch where she grips the side of the couch to concentrate on the pain.

“Y-You alright?” Sylvain massages her hands in a slow circular motion and Byleth just nods.

“Y-Yeah. I-It’s not that bad f-for now.” She smiles half-lidded feeling better seeing her husband by her side.

Soon, Jeralt and Sitri arrive at their home. It was arranged that Sitri stays at their home to take care of the children and Jeralt brings them to the hospital.

…

The hospital arranged a room for them to stay while waiting for the opportunity for Byleth to give birth.

Byleth leaned on the bed as the nurses strapped the medical equipment on her to monitor her and the baby.

“I guess my work here is done.” Jeralt said and he pats Sylvain’s shoulders.

“You are not staying?” Sylvain asks confused on why Jeralt decided to leave his daughter behind _again_ and decided go back to their home to help Sitri take care of the children.

“No worries. I’ll be back again and I’ll bring the children.” Jeralt smirks seeing his son-in-law concerned on him leaving so sudden.

Slowly, he approaches his daughter lying on the bed.

“Byleth, I’ll be back later. I can’t wait to see my grandkid soon.” He holds her hand and Byleth manages to give out a smile while gripping back his hand.

“See you soon, father.” She said quietly and Jeralt nods regretting that he was not by Sitri’s side when she gave birth. He quickly went back to Sylvain’s side and patting the man by his shoulders.

“Like I said, I think that Byleth needs you the most right now... **_son_**.” Jeralt encourages Sylvain repeating the same words in her three previous pregnancies. Sylvain was a little happy when Jeralt rarely calls him 'son' knowing that the Eisners rarely showed emotions.

“Alright. Leave it to me.” Sylvain nods as Jeralt left them behind.

…

Sylvain just stayed by his wife’s side as she lay down for several hours. Her contractions come and go. There are some doctors and the nurses coming by at different intervals to see if she is ready to deliver the child. They advised that it will take some more time before her body is ready for delivery.

“Sylvain, give me the oxygen mask.” Byleth lay on her side pointing to the equipment in front of her. Sylvain hurried over and placed it on her and she took deep breaths.

“You are doing great, baby.” Sylvain pats her back and Byleth gave a fading smile and suddenly she closed her eyes in pain.

“Mmph.” Byleth gripped the pillow and her other hand entwined with Sylvain almost crushing his hand as she concentrated on her strong contraction.

After a several minutes, Byleth shifted her position and leaned her back on the bed as she felt the contractions to be milder.

“Thanks Sylvain.” She gave him the oxygen mask and Sylvain wanting to cheer up his wife put the mask in his face causing his wife to giggle.

“I’m the one pregnant, not you.” Byleth smiles amused on seeing him try to lift her spirits as Sylvain takes long breaths from the oxygen masks almost imitating his wife.

“I did do the birthing simulation with Ashe!” Sylvain huffs in pride remembering that he brought Dimitri, Dedue, Felix and Ashe to a baby convention, since Ashe wanted to buy some items for his son. The three boys just tagged along because Sylvain said that they would be finding _“cool stuff”_ there, much to their dismay (and deep regret and disappointment) when they arrived.

“I thought Felix won’t take part in it. He dismissed it as ‘you are _weak_ ’ after seeing Dimitri and he tried it as well.” Sylvain laughs as he remembered Felix’s most distressed shout and it almost got Sylvain killed after Felix recovered.

“And Dimitri broke one of the simulation machines after you strapped him for a few seconds.” Byleth laughs remembering Sylvain showing her a video of Dimitri crying out in pain and breaking the machine. Sylvain and his friends were clearly startled and the video recorded their gasps with "ohhhh!" and "Dimitri!". Byleth found it to be hilarious.

“Yeah and all them forced me to take it too after Ashe almost fainted!” Sylvain touched his forehead regretting on inviting all his old classmates that overpowered him and blocked all his escape routes.

“So what did you learn?” Byleth looked at him exhausted but willing to listen to his experience.

“Remember to take your birth control!”

“Huh?” Byleth stared at him not expecting that answer.

“Having children is so difficult for women… How did you manage that? We have three children… and now, you always look so strong. I wish I was strong like you, love.” Sylvain crosses his arms and leans on the chair remembering on the extreme pain he suffered taking that simulation.

“I don’t know… “ Byleth laughs rubbing her stomach. She couldn't verbalize the feelings of her pregnancy or childbirth. For her, it was mixture of suffering, yet rewarded with an immense joy and pride for bringing a new life into the world, especially when it is the child she made with him.

“Anyway, after that experience… I guess it made me love my wife more after knocking her up four times!” Sylvain beams and it only gave Byleth an exhausted sigh.

“I wish I saw you in pain from the birthing simulation.” Byleth jokes and Sylvain just leans to give her a peck on the cheek.

…

After an hour, the doctor encourages Byleth to exercise herself to help ease the delivery of the baby. Sylvain supports Byleth exercise using the large birthing ball provided inside the room. He holds her arms as she took long breaths while steadying herself on the exercise ball.

“You only did this when you were carrying Maia.” Sylvain sits in front of his wife while softly holding his arms around Byleth. She grips his arms trying to do a few movements around the exercise ball.

“Selene and Symon’s birth was quite fast. When I arrived in the hospital, I was already ready to deliver them.” Byleth mumbled concentrating her hips feeling a few contractions in her body.

“It doesn’t matter how you give birth, as long as you are alright, healthy and safe.” Byleth’s face tinted red upon hearing her husband saying those sweet words from him and she almost slips from the ball, but he holds her helping her up on the birthing ball again.

“Thank you, Byleth.” He wipes the sweat on her face using a towel and Byleth couldn’t help but watch her husband’s anxious face clearly worried about her suffering.

“I’ll be fine.” Byleth holds his cheek and he gives her another kiss.

…

After a few more hours, Byleth is now lying on the bed tired and exhausted from the heavy and stronger contractions. She stammers in pain and grips the hospital bed taking deeper breaths than the previous contractions.

“Inhale. Exhale.” Sylvain whispers rubbing Byleth’s arms and shoulders, trying to comfort her from the pain.

“Mrs. Gautier, we are going to deliver your baby now.” The doctors and nurses adjust the bed, giving out a few instructions to her husband. Byleth could hear the nurses asking Sylvain to comfort his wife during the delivery.

A long cloth was put on her legs and Byleth cries from the terrible pain on her body. Sylvain only whispered soothing words reassuring his wife to keep going. He won’t fully understand the pain of childbirth even as he tried the simulator but he knows that Byleth needed him the most by her side. He amuses that these are the rare times he sees his wife full of expression and he excitedly anticipates the unique expressions she makes when their baby is born.

At this time, Byleth could only concentrate on the baby and the extreme discomfort that follows from it.

After several minutes, the nurses give a few simple instructions to Byleth helping her wipe her sweat and Sylvain stays by her side telling her how much she is doing great.

“A few more pushes. Take a deep breath. Let’s do some counting.” The doctor started to count and Byleth takes a long inhale following the advice of the doctor.

“The baby is coming. You are doing well. Alright, let’s count again…”

“Byleth, almost there.” Byleth tightens her grip on Sylvain’s hand and he tolerates her to hold it like this, hoping it would ease her in any way possible.

Byleth's eyes were clouded with tears from the pain, but then she hears the doctors and nurses giving her praise.

_“It’s a boy!”_

Soon, the couple hear a baby’s cry and the nurses wipe the baby wrapping it carefully with a towel and handing the baby to Byleth.

"A healthy baby boy." The nurse said tenderly witnessing another sweet and unforgettable moment from a patient.

“Ah.” Byleth gasps when she observes the features of the child. Sylvain wipes his wife’s tears seeing her how blissful and contended she looked after all the pain she has been through.

“He looks like you, Sylvain. Another ‘ _baby Sylvain_ ’ for us.” Byleth gave an exhausted smile, yet it was full of pride and joy. Sylvain couldn’t verbalize his overwhelming feelings of love and he just pampers kisses on Byleth’s face.

“He’s **_our_** wonderful baby.” Sylvain starts to sob and Byleth gives a weak laugh wiping away her husband's tears. The nurses had to take the baby for a short time to check if the baby is healthy, they put a baby cap on the infant while rewrapping the child with new clean sheets.

The nurse hands over the baby to the proud father who only wept more upon seeing his son. 

_“Mikhail.”_

Byleth said softly. “Didn’t we choose that name for him if he was a boy?”

“Yeah… Mikhail Gautier.” Sylvain soothes his son as the child cried. He starts singing ‘ _A long run to the Great Bridge of Myrddin_ ’ to pacify the baby and the baby relaxes to his father’s sound.

Sylvain carefully lays baby Mikhail on Byleth’s bare skin, knowing that the baby needs a bonding experience with his mother as well.

_“Here is something to believe in.”_ Byleth caresses her youngest child in her arms and Sylvain leans by her shoulders staring at his son full of adoration and _love_.

After a few minutes, Jeralt enters the room along with Felix and Annette, all of them excited to see the new addition to the Gautier family. They take pictures of the baby and the happy couple holding the baby.

Jeralt laughs a bit as he sees his daughter made the most entertaining expressions observing the way her husband influenced her facial expressions.

“ _She did change a lot after she got married.”_ Jeralt mused as he took out his phone taking a picture of the baby and checking his contacts to call Sitri.

“Let me call your mother. The children kept on telling me that they wanted to see their baby sibling.” Jeralt video calls Sitri who is waiting in the couch with the children for the good news.

They are all seemed very thrilled to see their new sibling in the phone.

“Daddddddy!!!! Mooooommmmyyyy!!” Selene shouts when she sees her daddy and mommy on the video call and Sylvain calls her name missing the presence of his other children.

“Uncle Sylvain! Auntie Byleth!” Ferdinand sneaks closer between Maia and Symon to be able to see the video clearly.

“Awww look at the baby. He’s sleeping so peacefully.” Sitri tells the children who were so fascinated at the baby.

“We named him, Mikhail.” Byleth said continuing her soft strokes on her son.

“Baby Mikhail!” Maia said enthusiastically. “I’m now a **_bigger_ **sister!”

“Haha, yes you are Maia. You have to care for another sibling now.” Sylvain laughs liking the way Maia shares her seat with Symon sitting on her lap.

“We better let your mommy rest.” Sitri said to the children and they all reply sadly with “Awww…”

Sitri pats the children’s heads and encourages them that they will come back home soon.

“Alright. See you later.” Jeralt said and he dropped the call.

…

Felix chatted a bit with his childhood friend, Sylvain, who only teased him by asking when he is planning to tie the knot with Annette. Felix responded with an annoyed stare.

“Okay. We better leave, Annette.” Felix calls the attention of Annette who was currently chatting with Byleth.

“Awww… I wanted to stay but I know you need a rest.” Annette sighs feeling a little too excited on seeing such a pure moment.

“Annette… You don’t know how much she felt… the Professor really needs a rest.” Felix looked away embarrassed knowing that he experienced a few seconds of that birthing simulator a few months ago with his old classmates.

“Alright, I know.” Annette giggles appreciating Felix’s compassion towards his colleagues, finding it hilarious that the birthing simulator did change him a bit.

“Thanks for coming by.” Sylvain thanks the support of his friends and father-in-law as they left the room. Sylvain then hands the baby to the nurses so they can monitor the baby’s wellbeing and health.

“See you later, little one.” Sylvain whispers as he hands his sleeping baby to the nurse.

After everyone had left the room, Sylvain plumps down the chair exhausted after a long day. He glances at Byleth trying to stay awake.

“My love, you better take a good rest.” Sylvain hovers over to her, moves her hair away from her face, and fixes the sheets of the bed allowing her to be more comfortable.

“I’m hungry…”

Byleth whimpers. She wasn’t able to eat for the whole day and he laughs at her response surprised on how resilient women are even after giving birth. After trying that horrifying and painful birthing simulator, Sylvain was clearly satisfied on giving birth to one child (if he was the one pregnant), but he all the more respects the courage his wife was able to give him more than one.

“What do you want? I’ll go buy it for you.” Sylvain offers despite his exhaustion of standing for so long.

“Fish Sandwich and Spicy Fish and Turnip Stew.” She mutters and he nods his head.

“Got it! Wait for me. I’ll go get it for you.” He runs outside ready to go and buy take away for his beloved wife.

“Thanks Sylvain.” Byleth smiles as he left the room. She appreciates the way he works tirelessly for her.

She waits for him a bit but later drifts into a deep slumber.

…

**EXTRA ENDING:**

When Byleth and Sylvain arrived back home with their new baby, Mikhail, the children were so attentive at watching their baby brother sleeping peacefully in Byleth’s arms. Symon enjoyed stroking the baby’s small hands and Selene pampered a few kisses from time to time. Sylvain even let Maia carry the baby one time and she held her new baby brother _gently_ as the baby slept peacefully in the arms of his older sister.

Today, Byleth hums a nursery rhyme as she comforts her now _youngest son._ She just breastfed the baby and tries her best to put the baby back to sleep.

“Auntie Byleth.” Ferdinand whispers while leaning on Byleth’s side as he observes the baby. He notices the small ginger curls on the baby’s hair similar to his ‘uncle Sylvain’. He relished this small moment with the baby. Somehow, there was an aura of something _wholesome_ and _sweet_ when he watches the family interacting with the baby. He did enjoy Selene’s favorite storybook of “ _My new baby_ ” and learning how babies just “ _pop out_ ” from their mommies' stomach. Byleth enjoys the way Ferdinand watches the baby and she uses her free hand to stroke Ferdinand’s hair for a short while as the young boy relaxed in the couch with her and the baby.

When Ferdinand’s parents came by to bring him home, Ferdinand only bowed to them.

“Dad! Mom! I want a baby brother! Please give me a baby brother!” Ferdinand pleads as his mother only stared at his father.

“Hahaha! I guess our son must have enjoyed the company of the Gautiers.” Ferdinand’s father comes closer to the young boy and hugs him tight making the boy hug him back in return.

“Auntie Byleth was not able to work for so many days when she had a baby. I wish you and mom also didn’t have to go to work.” Ferdinand’s parents looked at each other and they felt remorseful for leaving their _only son_ due to their duties.

“I’m sorry, my dear son. I have adjusted my work hours so I can spend more time with you. Now, let’s go home and have a splendid and grand dinner!” Ferdinand’s father pats his shoulders and ruffles the boy’s hair.

“Freddy, I’ll be with you from now on. So don’t worry…” Dorothea smiles almost crying as she embraced her husband and her son.

Sylvain and Byleth only smiled as they saw the boy laughing as he enters the car, but the boy ran over to them and hugged them giving them both a kiss on the cheek.

Ferdinand walks over to Maia giving her a handmade ring from all their pretend ‘house’ play.

“I hope to see you again, Maia.” Ferdinand cries a bit a little sad to say goodbye to his good friend. The boy leans down and hugs Selene and Symon before turning back to Maia.

“I’ll miss you!” Maia cries holding the ring in her hand knowing that her close friend is moving away to Enbarr and this is the last time she would see him.

“Maia, I’m sorry for telling you that your daddy is weak. He’s a very strong and nice daddy. So, make sure you take care of baby Mikhail, okay?” Ferdinand cries wiping his tears and he hugs Maia who lovingly returned the hug.

"I'm sorry Ferdinand, your daddy is very cool too. Yes, I'll take care of my baby brother so take care of your daddy and mommy , okay?" Maia smiles at him as she also tried to wipe away her tears.

Ferdinand calms down a bit wiping away his tears. He gives a wide grins and runs over to his parents who lovingly held his hands in both sides.

As the car’s engines were heard, Ferdinand, Jr. pulls down the window and waves goodbye to the family that temporarily gave him the time and love that he needed the most.

“Uncle Sylvain! Auntie Byleth! Thank you!” Ferdinand waved goodbye as the car drove away.

“Do you think he will be okay?” Byleth looks over to Sylvain who was silent the whole time.

“No…”

“Sylvain?” Byleth watches Sylvain staring at Maia who affectionately wore the Ferdinand’s handmade ring in her hand.

**“NO! HE’S NOT MARRYING MY DAUGHTER!”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ferdinand: THE SPLENDOR OF NOBILITY!  
> Ferdinand, Jr.: I AM FERDINAND VON AEGIR  
> But think about it... another Ferdinand (III) in the story...HmMMm...
> 
> I wrote a draft for a possible prequel to this story. Would you be interested to read it in the future? 
> 
> Thank you very much for reading. Please do leave some feedback if you like.
> 
> *Sylvain is a cavalier unit. He should be able to drive in this AU, but the couple don't own a car because Sylvain sold it. He used to pick up grils using that car too :b


	8. Such a beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Filler Episode" with Interactions with the Blue Lions boys and summer holidays with the Gautier family since Sylvain likes beaches (no pun intended).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick background of characters mentioned in the story:  
> Marianne – She is working as a Maternity Nurse at the State of the Alliance. She is Sylvain’s former roommate during their university days.  
> Petra- Sylvain’s former colleague at the University Cafe. She resigned to take over her grandfather’s business in managing a beach resort at her homeland, Brigid.  
> Hilda- A famous model and entrepreneur of fashionable brands around Fodlan.  
> Dimitri - He now works in Claude's office stationed near the border of Faerghus and Garreg Mach as a political advisor.  
> Ashe & Ingrid - Named their son Christophe Joseph Galatea Ubert (in honor of Lonato's son who passed away). 
> 
> Maia is now 8 years old; Selene is 5 years old and Symon is 3 years old. Mikhail recently turned a year old.

A week before the children’s summer holidays, Dimitri invites Sylvain to have a small reunion with their former friends from the University. Dedue offered the café for them to meet while Ashe decided to bring his son, Christophe, and Felix replied that he would be running a little late due to work.

Sylvain meets by the designated time bringing along his son, Mikhail, with him strapped to his chest. He spots Dimitri having a small chat with Dedue and Ashe. He also finally meets Ashe’s son, Christophe, who cried upon meeting him. Intrigued, Sylvain gives Mikhail to Dimitri, who panics mentioning how frightened he was holding the young infant. Sylvain gladly dismisses it and replied with “You’ll be fine, Dimitri" knowing how well he once babysit his daughter, Maia. There was a deep sense of trust between him and Dimitri since they supported each other since childhood.

Curiously noticing Christophe’s unique features, Sylvain held his arms open to welcome the baby.

“Christophe, Hello. You look like your mom.” As soon as Sylvain carries Ashe’s son in his arms, the baby started to feel more agitated. Using his own experience, Sylvain gently swings the baby high in the air and the baby peculiarly watches the “stranger” a little motivated from the new sensation. After a few seconds, this small gesture to stop his crying was unsuccessful since the baby took a glance at his father, Ashe, and he whimpered all the more, calling for his father’s attention.

“Oh no. Here we go again.” Ashe sighed as he observes his son crying on Sylvain’ chest. Sylvain leans over to Ashe who tenderly took the child back to his arms and the cries instantly calmed down.

“That’s just Uncle Sylvain. No need to cry.” Ashe rubs the boy’s back and the baby stays completely still feeling the warmth of his father after a very distressing event.

“That’s the sign that the child loves you.” Sylvain said as he watches the baby wrap his hands around Ashe’s neck and snuggles closer on his father’s chest.

“Y-You think so?” Hearing Sylvain’s words of encouragement seem to fluster the young father.

“So that means this child likes me too?”

Dimitri interrupts the pure moment and Sylvain took a glance on his son, Mikhail, sleeping peacefully on Dimitri’s arms.

“W-What?!” Sylvain gasps upon looking closely his son’s behavior, surprised that Mikhail feels more comfortable in Dimitri’s presence, he even slept comfortably in his arms.

“Of course not! He is probably just tired. Now if you can hand him to me.” Sylvain opens his arms and Dimitri refuses.

“He’s sleeping. Don’t wake him up.” Dimitri turns away still carrying the child and Sylvain starts to show of tinge of jealousy wondering why his children enjoy Dimitri’s presence every time they see each other. _‘It’s probably because he gives off a ‘princely’ and warm aura’_ Sylvain mumbles to himself. He often reads the children stories of fairytales that involves princesses and knights in shining armor. The book illustrations even show a blonde hero in the story. Sylvain’s children often mistake Dimitri as the ‘knight’ or the ‘prince’ of the storybook. He feels that he better change those storybooks with a hero with orange hair next time.

Sylvain turns his head to Dedue staring at him indirectly giving a signal for help as he knows that the two are very close and Dedue can almost understand Dimitri’s feelings.

“Dimitri, you did come here so we can have a modest conversation, not about work, but for us as friends. You better return the child to his father so we can all have a seat.” Dedue motions carefully reminding Dimitri frankly that it’s not every day that they get to see each other.

“Alright.” Dimitri a little sad returns Mikhail back to Sylvain’s arms, this wakes the baby up and the baby starts to wail.

“Woah, Papa’s here.” Sylvain rocks the baby very lightly to ease him and by instinct, the baby senses his father’s presence and relaxes.

“You’re quite good.” Ashe said as he tucks Christopher in the baby stroller, who also fell asleep in his father's arms. He mentally takes a note of this technique as he would try it on his son too. Hopefully, Ingrid would have a good night’s sleep if he took over taking care of his son at night.

“No Ashe, _this is what a real man looks like_.”

Sylvain winks and his friends just looked at him unfazed with his comment.

…

As they all took a seat, Felix enters the café running a later than what he mentioned in the group chat.

“Hey Felix, just in time!” Sylvain teased his childhood friend who only quietly apologizes due to finishing a deadline from work.

“Aww, you’re apologizing.” Sylvain laughs appreciating the way Felix expresses his care towards him and his friends. He noticed that Felix was probably very stressed from the way he dressed up today with his hair almost messy, forgetting his neat outward appearance.

“Of course. It’s rude of me to say I’ll go and see… Gah!” Felix lets out a short whine of frustration wanting to berate his friend for mocking him about his ‘ _un-princely_ ’ presence (as described by Sylvain that he looks like the villain from the children’s storybooks when he becomes stressed).

“Now. Now, Felix.” Dimitri joins in. “I would want us to have a relaxing lunch and afternoon tea. It’s been so long since we have seen each other.”

Felix silently agrees and he takes a seat next to Sylvain. Felix decides to forgive Sylvain for slightly humiliating him as he notices Mikhail wrapped around Sylvain’s chest, sleeping softly despite the noise.

The conversation became lively as they shared about recent events and experiences in their life like the ‘ _good old times_ ’ during their university days.

…

“It’s been so long since I saw Marianne. I decided to give her some flowers to cheer her up. I didn’t know which flower would be suitable for her, so **I bought every last one of them**.”

Dimitri crosses his arms as he leans back on the chair. Ever since Dimitri started working in Claude’s office, he’s been visiting a hospital nearby the state of the Alliance where he reunites with their former roommate, Marianne.

“Pfffft…” Sylvain was unable to hold his laughter from Dimitri’s conversation and accidentally spat out some of his drink to Felix. 

“Hey! Watch it! It’s my shirt! Darn it.” Felix stood up annoyed and angry for the small mess that Sylvain caused.

“S-Sorry Felix. Pfffttt…” Sylvain wipes his face also checking that the baby is okay and hands Felix a tissue, but it only irritates him more and he leaves to clean himself in the public toilet.

As he stood up and left, Sylvain calls back his attention feeling guilty for ruining his friend’s shirt.

“Hey Felix, I’ll get you a new one!”

“Don’t bother. Annette got it for me.”

“Oh, W-Wait! Uh… Come back here Felix! I have some baby wipes for you to use.”

Felix turns his head to glance at Sylvain waving the baby wipes in the air. Felix immediately comes back and swipes it from Sylvain’s hands.

“Thanks.” He turns back headed towards the washroom almost tripping on his steps embarrassed (he seems to be influenced by Annette’s walk ever since they “moved in” together).

As Felix disappears from sight, Dedue returns to the conversation his eyes showing a tint of amazement.

“Dimitri, why did you buy the whole stock from the flower shop?”

“I wanted to show her that I care…” Dimitri lowered his head as he thought about what to say. There a certain secret that he had been keeping from them. He finds it difficult to express this into words since it might have come as a shock to them.

“Have you ever wondered where she would keep them?” Ashe asked concerned, but surprised as well.

“I-I…”

Dimitri coughed a little taking a sip of water. His friends come closer to hear him out as he tries to compose his words.

“You see… Me and her… Err…”

“Come on Dimitri, you don’t have to hide it from us.” Sylvain carefully rocks Mikhail as the child made a small noise, perhaps sensitive from the sounds from their chatting.

Dimitri showing a tinge of agitation took a sip from his tea trying to calm down from all their concentrated stares awaiting his answer.

_**“Spit it out already.”** _

~~[A wild]~~ Felix appears behind Dimitri, his hair neatly tied up from the small break at the washroom. Felix was now anticipating on Dimitri’s answer, putting more pressure on the man.

_“Okay! We had a date!”_

Dimitri mutters out like a confession finding it tough to express the correct words.

“W-What? With Marianne?” Sylvain’s eyes widen and Dimitri nods in response.

“Yeah, I asked her out and we got along for months after the elections. She wanted to visit her parent’s grave so I wanted to make her happy by sending her some flowers.”

“Hey, that’s much better than a dagger you gave to Edelgard.” Sylvain muffles his laugh trying not to stir so that his child can sleep quietly. He recalls Dimitri giving flowers to Byleth back in the university and to another woman who he tried to converse with. It did not end well with the girl becoming too clingy on the poor inexperienced lad.

 _‘Ah, such good memories.’_ Sylvain said silently.

“Ugh, why am I telling this to you now.”

Dimitri shakes his head tilting his head down regretting on confessing to them about his new girlfriend. He knew that Sylvain would propose another crazy idea to gain _‘a whole new level’_ of Marianne’s affections. This might even lead into trouble and a scandal since the young politician works for the government. Dimitri won’t forget his **Rik Rok video** of him in a birthing simulator breaking the machine that became viral after Sylvain sent it to him, not knowing that it is also his work phone and Claude found it, gleefully posting it online to gain ‘more followers’ to support his cause. It actually ended well with more funding but still...

“I think it’s sweet.” Ashe’s cheery face appears to lift up Dimitri’s spirit.

“As long you ask her what she likes, I believe that would be fine.” Dedue gives a smile to his best friend encouraging him to keep persisting on what makes him happy.

“You improved.” Sylvain grins liking the way ‘his lessons’ impart on Dimitri’s actions. He would definitely be the wingman _again_ when he meets up with Marianne.

“Not bad, for a president of the archery club.” Felix just crossed his arms coyly smiling to see his childhood friend finally landing a date.

“Thanks.” Dimitri gives out a broad smile in response to their reassurance. At least, it ends fairly well despite the awkwardness with fumbling with his words and experience with his new girlfriend.

“Oh yeah, since you are dating now and leaving me behind, I’m going to propose to Annette.” Felix smirks at Dimitri. There was a reason why he couldn’t tie the knot with Annette because Felix was deeply concerned with Dimitri’s _single_ life (actually he is too flustered to admit that he cares for him too much, and not because he was single). He knew that it might be one of the many reasons to trigger him to misery. Dimitri did fell into a bad depression after his graduation because his parents died in an accident. It took some years from therapy and the help of his friends to overcome it. Now that Dimitri has recovered, Felix found the right time to finally commit to his long-time girlfriend, who lovingly supported his decision to stay as they are for the sake of Dimitri.

_**“WHAAAAT?”** _

They all said in unison. There was a pained mixture of shock and excitement to his sudden proposal to Annette.

“Ha! I knew it!” Sylvain shouted pointing at Felix. “You were worried about Dimitri!”

“W-What?” Felix slightly flinched as he knew that Sylvain could see right through him, they are childhood friends after all. This causes Felix to hide his tinted red cheeks by staring at the window refusing to look at Dimitri in the eye.

“A-Anyway, since I noticed that all of you have ‘ _tied the knot’_ , except of his ‘ _princely-ness_ ’. It might be a good time to consider it.”

Felix’s feels a little accomplished as he recalls attending Sylvain’s wedding as the best man, he attended Ashe and Ingrid’s wedding a few years after Sylvain’s wedding, and he just recently attended Dedue’s wedding in Duscur (Dedue married a woman from the same place). He had this talk with Annette for many times, it’s finally time for him to settle down.

“As long as my daughters will be the flower girls in your wedding, I will consider.” Sylvain beams imagining his beautiful dear daughters walking down the aisle and scattering petals on the floor.

“And my son can hold the rings! He can be the ring bearer (page boy)!” Ashe’s eager voice got him to stand up and tap Felix’s both shoulders.

“Uhm…” Felix blinked surprised seeing both father’s enthusiastic smiles and grins. He would be talking to Annette about this ( **IF** she accepts his ring).

“Felix.” A softer voice was heard and Felix meets the gaze of Dedue who only asked if he can help arrange the flowers on their wedding while Dimitri asked if he could invite Marianne to his wedding.

Felix takes a deep breath seeing the amused chatter among his of his friends.

“Fine. Do what you want.”

“THAT’S A DEAL!” Sylvain and Ashe said excitedly imagining their children becoming the wedding attendant in Felix and Annette’s wedding. They excitedly imagines that there would be a lot of photos and memories soon with their children happily elegantly walking down the aisle for the couple.

“I haven’t even proposed yet and you all are planning my wedding now.” Felix shakes his head in disbelief as he witnesses his friends talking about his wedding.

They continued to converse until the afternoon catching up on each other’s stories.

…

That evening, Sylvain finished eating dinner with his family and he helps Maia with her last round of assignments before the summer vacation starts.

“You met up with boys today, how are they doing?” Byleth asked her husband as she breastfed their son, Mikhail. She was comfortably sitting on the couch observing her husband and children working on the table in front of her.

“Dimitri has a girlfriend, I met Ashe and Ingrid’s baby, Dedue’s business is as usual, and Felix is getting married.” Sylvain supervises his eldest daughter as she does her assignment while the other children did some drawing on the opposite side of the table.

“Dimitri has a girlfriend now?” Byleth blinked confused since Dimitri was secretive about it for the whole year. She even met him in the baby shower of Ingrid but he didn’t mention anything about it.

Sylvain smiled amused with Byleth’s reaction. “Yeah, it’s quite a shock to all of us... He even bought the whole flower shop for her.”

“That’s something. At least it motivated Felix to finally propose to Annette.” Byleth hypothesized that Felix was worried about Dimitri but she never have imagined that he waited for Dimitri to find someone first before committing himself to Annette.

“He already did today.”

“W-What?”

“Look.” Sylvain hands her his phone showing the **Instogram story** of Felix holding Annette’s hand decorated with his ring, with a caption _“We are engaged.”_

“Knowing Felix, he did that in secret because he doesn’t want to pressure Annette with many people witnessing his proposal.” As Sylvain took back his phone, Maia starts to tug his shirt.

“Dad, I need help here.” Maia calls her father’s attention and she points to a math problem on the paper.

“Okay beautiful, let’s do this together.” Sylvain takes hold of her pencil and explains how to solve the equation properly. Maia listens to him responsively as she admires her father’s roughly sketched drawings of her and him in another paper to inspire her to finish her work.

…

"I thought this was a test..." Sylvain stretches his arms feeling accomplished as he finishes helping Maia’s assignment.

“We did it daddy!” Maia imitates her father by stretching her arms in the air, her motivation for studying has increased. Although this time, she would be enjoying her summer holidays with her family.

“Nice job.” Byleth smiles earnestly as she slowly wipes Mikhail’s face. Her load feels lighter when Sylvain tutors the children instead of her. In their years of marriage, Sylvain seems to have more patience than her when it comes to their children.

“Oh I forgot.” Sylvain rummages his bag to take out some papers. The children stop curious to see what their father was doing.

“What’s that, papa?” Byleth’s curiously stares at the papers as Sylvain spreads it on the table.

“Petra came by the office today and she wanted us to spend our summer holidays at Brigid.” Sylvain furrowed his brow not highly impressed with skimming the papers.

“Wow, that looks interesting, let’s try visiting the place.” Byleth impressed with the lovely tropical pictures made her more fascinated to spend a leisurely vacation away from Fodlan.

“It’s highly enticing but it’s way too hot over there! It’s a tropical country. I won’t be able to survive the summer heat!” Sylvain shakes his head imagining him melting into water like an ice cream if he ever visits the place.

“But Petra’s resort has great reviews too.” Byleth checks her phone to read all the nice comments and suggestions.

“I know but…”

“It has a beach.” Byleth said enticingly and the children quickly heard it. The children all gather together near their father to express their glee and excitement for the summer holidays.

“The beach! The beach!” They hop around Sylvain. Their father only frowned to their response.

“Daddy, I want to see the sea.” Symon said raising his arms while he jumps around his father.

“No Symon. Daddy doesn’t like it when it is too hot.”

“Awww…” The children said together in disappointment.

“It will be a good experience for our children.” Byleth encourages her husband despite his obvious reaction towards his intolerance to tropical temperatures.

“Ah please forget it! I won’t be able to endure the harsh heat. I just wanted to show you if you were interested. I was planning that we visit Almyra instead.” He takes out another paper from the table.

“Dimitri was telling me that Almyra has---“

_“I’ll buy a new swimsuit.”_

Byleth said softly subtly seducing him and he drops a paper containing his planned notes. He tensely gulps as he noticed there was a glint in her eye that had a double meaning to it.

“We want a new swimsuit too!” Maia grabs on to Sylvain’s shirt forcing him to lean forward.

“I want a swimsuit like Hilda!” Selene giggles enthusiastically wanting to follow the footsteps of her ‘idol’ Hilda wearing a two piece swimming costume that resembles a bikini (only with some decorated patterns and frills on it) in some commercials.

“Sorry gorgeous, but two-piece swimsuits are only made for adults.” Sylvain frowns as he lied to his daughter, he wants to protect his daughters after all (especially when they grow up and start wearing more revealing clothes).

“That isn’t a bad idea. Mommy should get one too.” Byleth grins glancing at Sylvain who only responded flustered to her teasing, his face visibly showing a tint of red cheeks all the way to his ears.

“Hooray! Let’s go buy it next week!” Maia jumps on the couch and she turns to her mother.

“Sure Maia, will daddy go with us as well?” Byleth mischievously grins to her husband in a playful tone.

“F-Fine…” Sylvain doesn’t meet his wife’s eyes. He wanted to get back at her for her constant teasing.

“It’s a deal then. We are going to spend the holidays at Brigid.” She raised her hand in approval and the children cheered happily expecting a fun holiday at the beach.

Sylvain abruptly interrupts to their cheers.

_“...As long as I get to choose mommy’s swimsuit.”_

He sounded innocent, yet he masks his true intention behind his words. It turned the tables around Byleth who understood his tone of voice and her face becomes equal with her husband as their faces turned red from their bold intentions.

“O-Oh, then I’ll invite my parents to come with us too.”

“WAIT…WHAT?!”

…

“I am liking it greatly that you have a stay with us.” Petra politely bowed to the family as they entered the room.

“Wow, it’s quite a large place.” Jeralt stepped in to admire the large home given to them. Petra was greatly overjoyed that they chose to spend the holidays here and gave them a private cottage to stay in. The white clean walls and the two bedrooms were simple yet it gives them a pleasing atmosphere despite the summer heat.

_**“Ah finally.”** _

Sylvain slumps down on a couch while Selene wipes her father’s sweaty face. He was exhausted from the plane trip and the short walk to the cottage. Not to mention, the extreme heat during lunch time where the sun’s rays shine the brightest in Brigid.

“Oh my, I never see him like this before. Is there anything I can help with? You are my guests after all.” Petra displays a worried expression when she sees her former colleague. She remembers that Sylvain was a very lively person at work and in this state, she feels that there must be a problem. Byleth just sighs and told her not to worry. “He’s just like that when it gets a little warmer than usual.”

“A **_little_** warmer?! For guys like me who grew up somewhere cold? Man... It's gonna be rough.” Sylvain retorts as Selene withdraws the towel from his head still concerned for her father.

“Ah I see! Then let me turn on the Air Conditioner!” Petra walks to the dining table and grabs the remote control. With a push of a button, the air conditioner starts to cool the place down.

“Thanks for your help Petra. My son-in-law will be fine.” Sitri smiles relieved about the air conditioner.

“If there is no problem then I hope you all enjoy the resort. Feel free to have a swim outside and call me if you need anything else.” Petra nods her head and bows.

The family thanks the woman as she left.

…

Sitri assists Selene and Maia as they change into their swimsuits in one of the bedrooms.

“Look daddy. My swimsuit looks like a tropical princess!” Maia twirls around wearing a flowery decorated one piece swimsuit. She expressed her eagerness when her daddy showed her pictures from Brigid with women wearing exotic kinds of clothes and she wanted to wear one too. The swimsuit is inspired by the colors and decorations from Brigid. Petra even reacted to Sylvain's **Instogram story** of his children, commenting that she likes he colors of Maia's swimsuit resembling her homeland.

“Mine has a pretty skirt. Just like Hilda.” Selene wore a light green two piece with frills especially around her bottoms resembling a skirt. She wanted it to look like her idol Hilda, but her overprotective father wanted a more modest swimsuit. Thus, they were able to compromise on this specific swimsuit (with the help of Byleth).

“Awww they look so cute.” Sitri’s gave a wide smile showing her adoration on the cute outfits of the children.

The door opens and Symon steps out of the bathroom. He goes near his grandmother and puts his hands on his waist to present his swimsuit as well.

“Daddy!” Grandma! I’ll go swimming as a shark!” Symon proudly modeled his swimming trunks decorated with sharks clearly wanting to swim in the beach as soon as possible.

“Aww you look like the baby shark, my boy.” Sitri ruffles his hair affectionately messing his hair up and fixing it back again. Symon feels a little accomplished and he pouts not liking the answer.

“No, I’ll swim like a big shark!” Symon stretches his arms and pretends to make a jaw of a shark snapping his teeth and his grandmother pretended to be frightened as she saw the boy acting so adorable.

“Pa! Pa!” Mikhail steps out of the bathroom trying to balance himself on his feet. He dashes straight to his father who picks him up.

“Good job, Mikhail.” Feeling proud of Mikhail’s accomplishment in balancing his walk, Sylvain kisses the boys cheeks and the boy chuckled happily at his father’s gesture of affection.

“Ready to head out to the beach?” Byleth follows Mikhail outside the bathroom and her eyes meet her husband who only blinked in awe mesmerized by her outfit. As promised, she wore the swim suit he chose for her, and to put it simply, it was a bikini.

“Nice…” He whispers unable to hide the small blush on his face. Mikhail turned to look at his father’s face curiously fascinated with his father’s voice.

“Nice.” Mikhail imitates his father.

“A-Ah!” Sylvain gulps startled with hearing his son mimicking his expressions that caught Byleth’s gaze.

“Thank you Papa.” Byleth shyly smiles shifting a little awkwardly conscious of her husband’s intense focus on her.

Sitri takes the hint watching the couple’s quiet stares and she butts in gaining the children’s attention.

“Don’t forget the sun screen! It’s still quite hot in the afternoon, better keep our skin healthy!” She hands Maia a bottle of sunscreen and the older sister automatically assists her younger siblings by pouring them an ample amount in their hands.

"Okay Selene and Symon. You have to spead the sunscreen on your skin so that your body won't hurt from the sun." Maia said almost sounding like her father being the doting parent.

“I don’t want to leave stinging sunburns after this nice vacation.” Sitri hands some more packets of sunscreen to Symon, who started rubbing it in his skin. Sitri then goes over to Sylvain giving him a bottle.

“Why don’t you help your wife? Me and Jeralt can take care of the children.” Sitri teases innocently. Sylvain quickly takes the bottle and turns to his wife.

“My pleasure.” He smiles at his wife playfully while handing Mikhail to Sitri’s arms. The sweet and considerate grandmother leads the children outside the room to explore the beach outside.

Byleth can only stare at him blankly knowing his true intentions.

…

“A-Ah! r-right there. Hmmm…” Sylvain loudly moans as Byleth rubbed her hands at his back.

Byleth a little annoyed with his behavior pushed his head on the bed to prevent him from talking out loud. “Sylvain, stop it. The kids are outside. They can hear us.”

“But they can’t hear anything because of the waves, and Sitri and Jeralt are also playing with them by the shore.” Sylvain said in a singsong voice ignoring her request. He stood up as she finished adding the cream to his back.

“Alright my wife, it’s your turn.” Sylvain sat on the bed and gave his wife a sly smile. She knows what he meant with that tone of voice and she was going to expect the worse but Sylvain just merely takes the cream off her hands.

Byleth stared at him quizzically at first but suddenly he gets straight to the point.

“Take your top off.” He said with a huge grin almost suggesting something more adventurous.

This bothers her even more and in retaliation, she pushes him back down on the bed locking him in place with her sitting on his back. She silently watches him squirm and struggle as she relaxes seeing him suffer. There was a little sniff from him but she is already familiar to it, it could just be one of his whims.

“P-Please…” Sylvain’s gaze was not on her since he couldn’t move.

“I want to see you, my beautiful wife.” He pleads almost pitiful. Byleth would absolutely have fallen to it, but _almost_.

“I’m not taking my top off.” She straddles him coming closer to his ear.

He was going to compliment her more but he stops as when he felt her breath tickling him.

“Because you chose it for me.” She whispers to his ear.

“Hmm…” He moans from her touch distracted from her sweet voice. Slowly, she climbs off from him sitting right beside him.

“Alright my wife, you win.” Still facing the bed, Sylvain crosses his arms and rests his chin on them.

“Now put the cream on my back.” Byleth said impatiently not liking where this is going.

“Let me enjoy the view first.”

He winks admiring the new angle of his wife from below. He felt accomplished after suffering from the intense heat in Brigid just to see his wife wearing the most attractive clothes that he rarely sees in his hometown, Faerghus, or even the whole country of Fodlan.

He hums favorably until a pillow falls to his face preventing him from his view.

“H-Hey… I was only joking!” Sylvain moves the pillow to the side and Byleth moves away to take the sunscreen from the bed.

She groans. He did agree to spend the summer holidays in Brigid, and even endured the summer heat so he could also spend some time with her. She could be a little appreciative to this sacrifice and proposes an idea to him.

“I was thinking that when the children are asleep… I would want us to take a quiet walk outside… **alone**.” Byleth emphasizes the last word, getting him somewhat thrilled. Before Byleth could even look at him, she heard him sob a bit albeit softly. She delicately moves back in the bed beside him, she tenses from his small movements knowing that he could easily fool her with his antics.

“S-Sylvain?” She peeks at his face only to see him smile while wiping a few tears away.

“I don’t deserve you... but that would be great.” He reaches out to touch her cheek, gingerly brushing his fingers and moving to the side of her hair. He was touched that she tends to follow through his whims and pleasures despite his obnoxious personality.

“I still can’t believe I’m married to _the perfect woman_.”

Byleth softens from his touch finding her husband’s devotion to her quite charming, compared to his philandering ways before they married. She reminisces that the younger Sylvain would often be caught up with women distracting him from his school work. Now, all that attention instantaneously shifted all to her. It was, in any case, frustrating to adjust, specifically in this particular situation.

“Let me take off my top then…” She succumbs to his use of flowery language and moves her hands to her back to untie the top, but he sits up to stop her hands fumbling around her straps.

“No wait… I do want to see you wear it.” Sylvain insists taking the sunscreen from her and applying it to her back tenderly.

It was pleasant at first until he dips his hand down to her bottom and she pinches him from his playful touches. He could only yelp from her pinch bringing his hands to her back once again.

“Want me to apply the rest to your body?” He gives her a wink and she scowls irritated giving him _that look_ that he would regret it if he doesn’t stop. He reacts to this by passing her the sunscreen and her face loosens up to a small smile. She kisses his forehead as a token of appreciation and for once, he appreciates the summer heat of Brigid.

“Sorry, I got carried away with how stunning you are.”

"Alright... Alright... I know."

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! But... you are definitely... uh... _amazing_..."

He keeps silent while waiting for her to finish applying the sunscreen to her skin. He tries to distract himself from watching her so he reaches out to grab a hold of Byleth’s straw hat, almost getting ready to join their children outside.

“Hmmm…I forgive you Sylvain, but you better make it up to me later.” She reaches her hands to touch his face and she steals a kiss from him.

Taken by surprise, It took a few seconds for him to recover from the kiss.

“L-Let’s go… explore the resort?” He retracted his face, trying to calm himself from his beating heart.

Sylvain holds his wife’s hand helping her off the bed. She chuckles in amusement seeing him tolerate her small touches as he placed the hat on her head.

“Lead the way, husband.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sitri knows what's up. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
> More Interactions with the children next chapter and ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) the conclusion.  
> *Note: I actually wanted to pair Claude and Dimitri together ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) but I unlocked the Dimitri and Marianne ending and I was so touched with it. They deserve a happy ending too.
> 
> This was supposed to be the last chapter, but the chapter became too long (filler episode lol) so I split it into two parts. I am currently editing the second part.  
> I have also edited the past chapters from any known mistakes I can spot, hopefully it would be better.
> 
> Thank you again for your feedback and I appreciate it.  
> I also am grateful for the kudos and comments. It is great to see that this story is at least bearable to read.


	9. Go blind for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gautier Family summer vacation (Part 2)

The short walk to the beach was slightly distracting, when Sylvain observed the stares of bustling tourists, staff, and other guests. Feeling conscious of his wife, he wraps his arm around Byleth holding her close to him.

“Sylvain, you don’t have to be _too_ clingy right now.” Byleth sighed irritably.

She squealed as he curled his arm around her lower body scooping her closer to him.

“With that outfit, I cannot allow that.”

“But you chose it for me.”

“I know and it looks amazing on you.”

“Are you perhaps jealous that there is a possibility of your wife to be ogled at?”

“N-No…” Sylvain halts his steps, but he continues to hold her close to him.

Byleth follows him, stopping her walk. She clearly knows he is lying. Closely, she narrows her eyes looking at him and he surrenders to her tight gaze.

“A-Alright fine! I don’t want anyone to stare at my beautiful wife, at least longer than 3 seconds.” He mumbles embarrassed.

There was _also_ another reason why he felt insecure right now…

“Is it because we had to leave our wedding rings back at the cottage?” Byleth said almost reading his thoughts.

“You understand me, my love.” He flinched. She knew him too well. After all, they lived together for so long.

“You should know that we had to take it off because it could get lost in the sea?”

“And that’s the reason why you need to stay close to me.”

“With that outfit of yours, I think it is highly possible that everyone would want to look at the both of us.” Byleth scoffed at his outfit, a little too overwhelming to her taste.

It was obvious where the people were staring at. It was not Byleth, but it was her husband, Sylvain as he stylishly wore sun glasses, and a swimsuit that matches like his son, Symon, with larger sharks decorated like a repeating pattern. On top of that, he rented a large umbrella which he is currently holding onto his opposite hand. He told her that it would successfully shield him (and his wife) from the sun’s rays.

“It doesn’t matter! I need to protect MY wife.” Sylvain said desperately talking louder than usual.

Byleth could feel his insecurity creeping back to him watching him squirm as his hand lightly tightened on her hip, not really hurting her, but evidently she could feel the tension. Byleth understands his pain and wanting to relieve him from the burden, she pulls him closer.

“By…” Sylvain was interrupted by a touch on both his cheeks. His thoughts were lost when he felt Byleth’s soft lips, kissing him deeply. Their tongues move together, getting more fervent and steamy, despite the awareness of people around them. Byleth actually loathes the idea of kissing him in public, and she regrets doing it a few times to steal kisses from him. However, if it could alleviate his insecurities, she was willing to try it on him. Perhaps it was a guilty pleasure, or Sylvain’s senseless influence on her, but she decides to just leave it as a mystery of being married to this _former_ skirt chaser.

“Hmmm…” Her hat almost falls off from the kiss but Sylvain manages to catch it in time. She pulls back from him taking a breath from the intensity, her mind almost in a haze. She believes that if she takes this further, she might not want to stop from the bliss of pleasure.

“S-Sylvain…I..!” This time Sylvain brings her back and her lips suddenly find its way back to him. She was not able to continue her sentence as the hand on her hat moved to her neck, helping him push her closer for another kiss. Byleth tensed in reaction but her body relaxes from the passionate kisses.The two become too absorbed in the kiss until Sylvain’s sunglasses accidently hit Byleth’s forehead, obstructing them from going further.

“Sorry.” Sylvain pulls up his glasses to rest on his hair and he leans back down to kiss her, only his eyes meet his father-in-law, Jeralt, who glared at him carrying his youngest son, Mikhail, who watched them in the most adorable smile, unaware of what was _really_ going on.

“A-Ah! F-F-Father!” Sylvain quickly pulled away from his wife who was first taken aback by his roughness until she heard him say ‘father’.

“F-Father?” Byleth’s face flashed red with the realization of her father standing nearby.

The couple was saved by their youngest son, Mikhail, as the infant made an endearing action his own hand, making a ‘flying kiss’ to his grandfather and parents.

“Kissy! Kissy!” The infant chuckled imitating his parents’ kiss, continuing his gesture on kissing his hand and blowing it away to them.

The child helped soften Jeralt’s gaze. If it was 10 years ago, Jeralt would totally beat the hell of out Sylvain right now. Sylvain used to own the Gautier business after all and he used to be on several trendy tabloid articles online talking about him (not to mention he was on the front cover a newspaper once). He couldn’t manage to beat him now since Byleth married him and they now live together, and he seemed to care for his son-in-law better than before. Not to mention that their youngest child fondly enjoyed spending time with his grandfather more than the other children (in reality, Mikhail was an easy-going child that goes along with anyone).

Jeralt took a deep breath. “Look, the children were all waiting for you. You better continue that later.” He said it so emotionless that the couple did not know how to react.

“Y-Yes, Sir!” Rushing to get away from the awkwardness of the situation, Sylvain abashedly pulled his wife’s hand passing Jeralt and Mikhail.

“And Sylvain…” Jeralt calls out to them, making Sylvain and Byleth turn their heads to him once more.

“I know you trust your wife, but Byleth can handle herself in that outfit.”

“T-Thank you.” Sylvain nervously laughs and bows his head. Byleth was unable to show her flustered appearance to her father, finding it somehow embarrassing that he saw them and even heard their conversations just a few moments ago. She impatiently pulls his hand and they both ran towards their children seeing Selene and Symon gleefully waving their hands from afar calling for them.

“Sorry, I was insecure again…” Sylvain catches his breath as they started running.

“My father even caught us… also our son.” Byleth replied knowing that there will be another memory of guilt about kissing her husband in public (again).

“That makes it better! You father accepts that we are married! Mikhail should be proud that his mom and dad love each other very much!” Sylvain laughs liking the feeling of holding her hand while she ran ahead of him. It was like one of those cheesy **instogram** posts of couples on vacation. One person would take a picture of their hand holding their lover while the lover drags them away, bonus points when the background is a romantic scenery. 

“10 years ago, you would have gotten shot by my own father.” Byleth stops to catch her breath. The two of them are now a few meters from the beach.

“10 years later, despite my insecurities, I manage to overcome them due to my beautiful wife and her kind family!” Sylvain grinned facing his wife. He felt better now thanks to her unconventional methods which he would probably do the same, sooner or later when she ever needed his help.

She sighed, but was impressed on his change. She steals a kiss on his cheek hoping to motivate him. He wanted to respond to her sweet gesture only to be obstructed once again by his two children crowding around him (with Sitri following closely).

“Dadddddyyyyy! Moooommyyyy!!!!” Selene and Symon automatically raise their hands waiting for their parents to carry them.

“But you two can walk!” Sylvain pouted, He places the umbrella down on the sandy beach in defeat. He regrets that he coddled them too much, but he finds it very precious to see his two children showing how much they cherished their father.

“Hah! Come here you two!” He easily scoops them up on his arms and the two children screamed overjoyed with their father’s sudden strength.

“Like an airplane!” Selene gladly raises her hands feeling the strong wind blowing her pigtails as she settled on Sylvain’s arms. It was her first time to ride an airplane going to Brigid. During the plane ride, she kept on bothering her father about airplanes and Sylvain had to convince Maia to give up her seat for Selene, so that the girl could shift her attention on the airplane’s window.

“Like a seagull!” Symon flaps his arms pretending to be a seagull. In his case, he was so intrigued by the seagulls on the beach. Fortunately, Sitri had been so ever patient explaining to him about the seagulls giving Sylvain and Byleth the needed break at the cottage.

The hyperactive children were wobbling in their father’s grasp, too excited about the beach. Instantly, Symon’s arms moved into his father’s face hurting him by accident.

“Owww…” Sylvain tried to balance himself as he adjusted from the slight pain. He kept his grip on them knowing that they trust him not to drop them.

Byleth holds onto Symon’s arms to ease her husband’s load on carrying two children at once. “Symon, gentle hands, please.” She said softly reminding the young boy.

Selene saw her mother up close and took a hold of her arm.

“Mommy! Please carry me too!” When Byleth heard this from her daughter, she opens her arms to Selene, smiling at her. Selene happily leans on her mother’s arms as she was lifted by the shoulders. Byleth took her daughter by ease shifting her hold on the girl’s bottom. Selene happily leans on her mother’s chest, as she felt her close to her body.

Sitri stands closely near the family. There was a sense of pride of staying healthy and strong to be able to care and spend time with her grandchildren. The proud grandmother pulled out her phone (wrapped in a special cover to prevent it from getting wet) ready to take a picture.

“Awww…Let me take a picture!” Sitri waved getting their attention.

“Daddy, look.” Symon points to the camera.

“I’m looking. You should smile, Symon!” Sylvain fixes the boy’s wet hair and moves closer to his wife.

“Selene, Look at grandma!” Sitri calls Selene’s name repeatedly trying to get the young girl’s attention.

“Selene, smile.” Byleth leans on her husband giving a small smile contrasting her husband’s wide grin in the picture.

Just like that, there was another photo taken.

“Such a pretty picture.” Sitri opens the phone’s gallery to check on the photo. She liked to compare the features of the young children and noticed that Selene inherited her father’s wide smile while Symon’s smile is similar to his mother.

“May I take a look too?” Sylvain rushes over to Sitri’s side and Symon curiously took a glance at the picture as well. Both father and son had a look of satisfaction seeing their cheerful smiles in the picture.

“Please send it to me! I want to add it to my **instostory** later!” Sylvain asked his mother-in-law politely.

“Of course.” Sitri replies preparing to send it in **Whutsapp,** not aware that there was no wifi signal in the beach.

“Where’s Maia?” Byleth asked her mother showing a deep concern.

“She went to the toilet. Jeralt was waiting for her outside since she wanted to go alone.” Sitri turns to the direction of Jeralt spotting her husband and grandchild from afar.

This does not ease Byleth’s fears as her face changed to a worried parent. Sitri tells her not to worry because she observed that Maia’s more independent now especially when she ‘babysits’ her younger siblings. Suddenly, Sitri’s face lightens when she spots Maia running hurriedly towards her direction.

“DADDDDDDDDYYYYYYY!!!!!” Maia cries out a little jealous that she saw her grandmother taking a picture of them without her.

Maia crashed on to Sylvain, hugging him tightly.

“I want to be in the picture too!” Maia raises her arms signaling her father to carry her as well. Sylvain sweats in horror. Maia has gotten a lot taller and bigger now. He was about to say no until he could see her eyes watery. He knows that she was holding her tears.

 _‘Treat your children equally’_ a voice in his head rang and he knew there was no other choice. He remembers that he does pushup exercises everyday with Maia sitting on top of him… most of the time.

_He could handle this, right?_

Sylvain slowly picks up the girl and holds her upright trying to once again balance himself with carrying Symon. His wife observes him in shock, this later turns to awe when he manages to hold them properly.

“Just like a superhero.” Maia said hugging her father’s neck. Sylvain sweats profusely not only from the summer heat, but from carrying his 8 years old daughter and his son at the same time.

“Symon, why don’t you stay with mommy in this picture?” Byleth offered Sylvain’s help and luckily, the boy nodded and went into his mother’s arms.

Sylvain relieved from an additional weight lifted from him was able to adapt to his grip on Maia. “Mommy is also a superhero!” Maia said watching her mother carrying both her younger siblings and she gives her father a peck on the cheek.

“Maia…” Sylvain felt touched, his own parents never did this to his brother, Miklan. He remembered that his parents always carried him as he watches Miklan gripping his shorts in anger. Not wanting this memory to be passed on to his children, Sylvain kissed his daughter’s forehead, making sure his eldest was loved like the others too.

“Okay, ready? Let’s take another picture!” Sitri positions the phone again and the family took another picture.

“How about me?” Jeralt rushes in the second shot holding Mikhail. Mikhail still a little unaware due to his age looked away in the photo. It took a few tries (and Sylvain’s patience and endurance carrying Maia) to get a good shot of Mikhail staring at the photo.

“Stop taking photos! Let’s go swimming!” Maia shouts in frustration after a few shots.

“I want to go swimming again!” Symon agreed with his older sister and Byleth brought Selene and him back to the ground.

“Alright! Alright! Let’s go!” Byleth takes both their hands and they started running to the shore. The rest of the family followed as well.

…

Several minutes later, Sylvain approaches his daughter, Maia, as the rest of the family continues to enjoy staying by the shore. Sylvain smiles seeing Symon and Selene fascinated by the fish in the beach while Sitri and Byleth watched over them. He also spots Jeralt sleeping on the beach mat nearby with Mikhail resting comfortably on his chest.

“Hey beautiful.” Sylvain sits down on the sand in next to her. Not wanting his child to suffer from sunburn, he placed the large umbrella on top of her protecting her from the sun.

“That’s a very detailed work. Can you tell me more about it?”

“Hi daddy, I’m building a sand castle.” He spots the “ _sand castle_ ” that she was meticulously building near the shoreline. She was so engrossed with it that Sylvain felt discouraged to ask her to join her other siblings swimming at the shore.

“Sylvain, you don’t need that umbrella. The sun isn’t as bright at this time in the afternoon!”

He hears Byleth call out to him from the shore while teaching Selene and Symon how to swim.

“No, thank you. This heat is unbearable!” He shouts back raising his voice competing with the sound of the waves as it continued to crash into the shore. Byleth only sighed and decided to let her husband do what he wants.

Maia calls back his attention by patting his shoulder. “Dad, look. This is Dimitri, Ferdinand (II), Dedue, Ashe, Felix, and You.” Maia points to all the seashells she has collected to represent a certain person in her sand castle. Sylvain only looked at the seashells in disgust (except the seashell representing him) since he learned that Maia appears to have many male friends at school and outside school. She would often wave at more men than women. Byleth believes that Sylvain was just overthinking, but he did feel it (his fatherly senses tingling every time a boy approaches her). He definitely knows his children the best using his experiences from his past to apply it to his two daughters.

“But Maia, you also made another set of people here?” Sylvain points to the seashells below her castle.

“They are my knights in shining armor, who will take me away from the big bad monster. Whoever defeats the monster will take my hand in marriage.”

Sylvain gasps in horror to her statement, his world crumbling down to pieces, not wanting his daughter to grow up too fast. The dreams of her and Ferdinand might even come true in real life. He could almost imagine Maia taking the boy’s hand as she places Byleth’s ring on his finger… No! He snaps out from those thoughts and vows to protect his daughter at all costs.

“But daddy will come to rescue you.” He grabs his seashell and climbs over the castle ‘defeating’ the monster.

Maia paused trying to come up with a story. “Okay, daddy. Then defeat the monster! RAWWWRRR!”

“Don’t worry, your knight will come save you! TAKE THIS!” Sylvain pushes the large seashell and it fell down from the castle.

“Princess, let us go and get married!” Sylvain places his seashell closer to his daughter, but she comments.

“But daddy, aren’t you already married to mommy? Mommy said that it’s not right to cheat.” Her words taken him back, he played with so many women in his _dark_ past, that he felt so unsure of what to reply.

“Oh right…”

“Then I marry Dimitri!” Maia said happily taking the seashell from the sand.

“N-No! He has a girlfriend! He would also be cheating!”

“Hmm… Then Ferdinand? He has no girlfriend or wife.” Maia grabs another seashell.

“N-No! Ferdinand might have someone special to him too!” Sylvain tries to make up an excuse to prevent this from ever happening in the future.

Maia frowned seeing that there no more available suitors for her.

“Then who can I marry if everyone has someone special in their life?” She said pouting sadly staring at the seashells on the sand.

“Well… Uh…” Sylvain stutters a little guilty for ruining her play. At the back of his mind, he does want Maia to marry a good natured man, someone better than her daddy. He would be devastated if she married someone like him, the _former_ notorious philanderer as described in those tabloid articles during his university days. Even as a changed man, there is still a tiny bit of a lingering feeling of his past coming back to haunt him.

“It doesn’t matter.” Maia brushes it off. She places her seashell on top of the castle and smiled feeling accomplished.

“I am going to be that strong princess where I don’t need a knight to save her because she has daddy, mommy, Selene, Symon, and Mikhail in her life.”

“Maia…”

Sylvain watched his daughter amazed pulling down his sunglasses in awe. She probably learned this from Byleth during her maternity leave with Mikhail. Those were the only days where she gets to be a full time mom and spend more time with the children, getting to know them better.

“I’m tired of playing castle. Let’s go swim with everyone!” Maia breaks down her sand castle burying the seashells under the sand.

“I’M SO SO PROUD of my baby!” Sylvain pulls his daughter into a hug and he picks her up.

“Let’s go have a nice swim!” He doesn’t mind how heavy she is. It was the fact that she was courageous enough to think independently on her own.

…

After finishing dinner with a traditional Brigid meal from a local restaurant (recommended by Petra), the family gets ready for bed. It was arranged that the girls would stay in their grandparents’ room and the boys would stay with their parents.

Sylvain lay down on the bed exhausted from a long day at the beach and he strokes Mikhail’s hair as the infant stayed by his father’s side. They already finished taking a warm bath while Byleth bathes with Symon. While waiting for them, Sylvain started posting pictures on social media so that his friends could see his _lovely_ vacation.

When the bathroom door opened, Symon straightaway jumps on the bed as Byleth dried his hair.

“Symon, wait for a minute… Mommy needs to wipe your face.” Byleth follows her son on the bed to wipe him, but the boy struggles to keep his hyperactivity and rolls around. Normally, the children would sleep in their own rooms but not today. They are going to share the bed with their parents.

Mikhail was enticed by Symon’s playing and happily joins in with his older brother. He taps his brother’s face in delight. Still learning how to control his hands, Mikhail unknowingly slaps Symon’s face and the boy feeling the burning sensation of the slap started to cry.

“Waaaahhhhh Mikhail hit me!” Symon wailed. The cries were so loud that Byleth knew that her parents would hear it in the other room. Byleth, clearly exhausted from the long day, scolds the young boy that if he stayed still, he wouldn’t get slapped. Sylvain takes notices on his wife’s stressed expressions.

“Someone’s sleepy.” Sylvain sits up, places the phone on the side desk, and grabs the crying boy. Byleth hands Sylvain the towel to let him wipe Symon’s hair instead of her.

“Mikhail is only a baby. He couldn’t control his hands yet so let’s be a good older brother and understand him.” Sylvain rocks the boy on his arms and the boy nods, still crying.

Mikhail strides over to his brother. Symon saw his brother and nervously covers his face looking away from him. Sylvain knew that Symon was still angry at Mikhail for hitting him.

“Mikhail, you have to be careful. Look at your brother… he is crying.” Sylvain took this opportunity to teach Mikhail a lesson about empathy and understanding other people’s feelings.

The infant was surprised by his father’s words and he moves closer and kissed his brother’s forehead. Symon slowly pulls down his hands and takes a peek back at his brother. Liking Mikhail’s reacyions, Symon gives a small smile and the infant only giggled more.

“Sy! Sy!” The infant babbles still learning how to say his brother’s name correctly. Byleth crawls over to Mikhail and puts the child on her arms.

“Time to sleep, young man.” Byleth kisses Mikhail and tucks him under the covers.

Mikhail blinked still not able to sleep although Byleth could already see the boy’s eyes tired from the whole day of playing. She tucks herself close to him and uses one hand to caress the infant to sleep. Mikhail shifts his position to face her and soon he made a cute yawn. Byleth hums a familiar tune from when she was still pregnant with him. This soothes the boy and he falls asleep.

Symon was still in the arms of Sylvain when the phone vibrated. Sylvain checked his phone and saw a heart reaction from Annette on his instostory. It was a selfie of Sitri and the rest of the family at her back. On the other hand, Felix does not react to any of his posts, he only replies with ‘ _better bring us souvenirs_ ’ in some of Sylvain’s stories. It sounds heartless but it was a form of affection from his childhood friend.

Another notification appears and it was Dimitri. He sends Sylvain an edit of Sylvain’s face with sunglasses with the caption ‘ _Daddy_ ’ mistakenly thinking it was an innocent meme. Another notification show Dedue and Ashe reacting to his stories as well, sometimes commenting ‘ _This is a nice picture_ ’ or even ‘ _Enjoy your holidays!_ ’

The snores of his son took his attention away from his phone and he realizes that Symon fell asleep on his arms. He tucks the boy beside Mikhail and Symon mewls a bit from the movement, but settles in the sheets. He strokes his son’s hair feeling the orange curls almost similar to him. In almost every photo, Symon looks like a genetic copy of his father, only his personality was very similar to his mother: quiet, calculating, and confident. He could also see some of his features from Mikhail.

He gives both his children a goodnight kiss, but becomes upset when he could not reach his wife from the opposite side of the bed. He gets down on the bed to check on her and sadly, she was already fast asleep, drained from swimming and taking care of the children today.

He sighed a bit. She did promise him on another ‘ _lovers trysts_ ’ tonight, but he would feel remorseful if she did not have a good rest for tomorrow. Well, he blushes thinking to himself... he wanted her on a full energy after all. He knew that the children obviously have more energy than them (and their grandparents) combined. He was grateful that Jeralt and Sitri went with them to be ‘ _reinforcements’_ but also he wanted to them to enjoy a vacation with their grandchildren.

“Maybe next time.” Sylvain brushes Byleth’s hair away from her face and he kisses her softly making sure she does not wake up. He goes back to his side of the bed pulling the covers carefully and checking his phone _one last time_.

He reviews the pictures that Sitri sent him and there was one he quietly stared in admiration. It was him and Byleth sitting by the shore of the beach with their four children smiling widely at the picture.

He would definitely bother Ingrid later after their holiday to help him print some of the pictures he personally chose to decorate for the living room.

He stirred as he prepared to sleep, but then... maybe he should take a short glance on his wife's solo pictures too. After all, she looked _amazing_ wearing it.

…

The next day, Sylvain was awoken by his wife and children. He sat up a little surprised knowing that it was usually him waking them up in the morning.

“My mother made breakfast today.” Byleth kisses his forehead and proceeds to bring the children downstairs.

“Don’t be late, daddy!” Selene peeks at the room and leaves.

“I guess I slept later than them.” Sylvain chuckles as he got up from the bed.

It was going to be another long day for them to enjoy.

…

“I’m happiest that you get to see the place!” Petra bows as they got in the boat. Today, Petra would take them on a boat tour around the islands of Brigid. It was going well until she notices Sylvain clutching the large umbrella in the boat.

“Um… Sylvain, you can leave the umbrella to our staff over here.” Petra gestures her staff to take it but Sylvain refuses.

“Sorry Petra but… It’s hot!!! I need it!!!!” Sylvain said it so desperately that Petra had to agree. It turned out to be useful as they hiked around the mountains.

There was also a famous fishing spot at the end of the tour and the family was able to catch different kinds of fish in that area. Byleth and Jeralt competed for the biggest fish and the children were the judge of this competition. Jeralt won the competition by catching a large quality _Teutanes Pike_ and the children were deeply engrossed on how large the fish was on Jeralt's hands. For the first time, Jeralt felt a sense of completion as the children congratulated him.

…

Nearby the cottage, the resort provided an area where the guests can grill food particularly fish and seafood. It’s an outside picnic area where anyone is allowed to eat and cook and it was the perfect opportunity to grill the fish the family caught that afternoon.

Sylvain and Jeralt both pitched in to cook the food while Byleth and Sitri watched the children play around the beach.

“Byleth! Maia! Selene! Symon! Mikhail! The food is ready!” Sylvain calls out to them as the children played by the shore.

“Food is here!” Maia grabs Symon’s hand and they rush back to the outside picnic area.

“Wait for me!” Selene runs behind them and Sitri follows the young girl.

“Let’s run, Mikhail!” Byleth holds Mikhail’s hand as they dashed towards the outside picnic area.

…

“Ah, the fish that we caught were delicious. I wish we could take them back home.” Sitri smiles as she took another bite of the grilled fish.

“We can’t take them home though. It seems like Brigid wants to promote their tourism and protect their resources.” Jeralt replied a little disappointed.

“How’s the food?” Sylvain wipes Symon’s face as the boy chewed on his dinner.

Symon swallowed his food before talking (because it is good manners and his parents taught him that). “Yummy!” He said and rubbed his stomach in satisfaction.

“Yeah? Your daddy cooked it with me. He improved his cooking ever since he married your mommy.” Jeralt chuckled as he remembered Sylvain religiously following the recipe book during the first months of his married life with Byleth. Nowadays, he finds confidence in experimenting different spices and cooking styles for his family.

“Father.” Sylvain blushes somehow proud that he was able to get a seal of approval from his father-in-law.

“Hmph.” Jeralt smiled. Maybe it wasn’t a bad idea for his daughter to marry this man after all.

…

After the dinner, Sitri and Jeralt prepared to clean the area as it was a rule in the resort to ‘Clean up as you go’ when guests use the area.

“No, don’t worry about us. We can clean up.” Sylvain said as he cleaned out the trash.

“You can go rest up in the cottage. We will follow.” Byleth smiled helping her husband.

“Then we take the children too.” Sitri said as she carried a sleepy Mikhail. The boy yawned and leaned his head on her shoulder.

“See you later daddy.” Selene yawned as she held her older sister’s hand.

"Don't worry, dad. I'll bring Selene inside the cottage." Maia huffed in pride for being a responsible older sister.

“Come here.” Jeralt carried the 3 years old, Symon, as the boy rubbed his eyes.

“Not sleepy yet.” Symon said trying to keep his eyes open.

“But with that look. You better take a good rest.” Jeralt patted the boy’s head as Symon relaxed on his shoulder.

Byleth thanks both of her parents as they left with the children.

...

Sylvain and Byleth sat down on the bench, taking a short rest from cleaning the area.

“Are you tired, Byleth?” Sylvain scoots closer to his wife, resting an arm around her shoulders.

“No. Are you?” She looked at him curiously and he grinned liking her gaze on him.

“Then let’s go on a _nice walk_ before we return to the cottage. Yeah?” He winked suggesting something more intimate.

“Sure that would be great.” She smiled, finally agreeing to his desire, knowing what he wants.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was editing this chapter and I was like  
> 'oh man.. It's so long' so I split it again.  
> I don't want to be called 'Sons of Gautier' for being a cheater so I publish two chapters at once. *Sylvain wink*  
> The next chapter has smut and the last chapter.
> 
> *Also, Byleth can carry two children at once. CHANGE MY MIND.


	10. By My Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nights in Brigid were warm and breezy despite the hot air of summer and the happy couple decides to take a stroll around the resort for another lovers trysts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like cheese, but this chapter is cheesier, with a pinch of self-indulgent smut.
> 
> WARNING: Explicit sexual content, lots of teasing... and sex. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

“Sylvain, where are you taking me?” Byleth inquired as they were walking for quite some time.

“I asked Petra for a nice and quiet place to relax… so we have to keep walking for a while.” Sylvain looked at Byleth giving a signal that he knows what he is doing.

Byleth could only hold his hand as he led her to a place that are dimly lighted by a few single torches. Both of them were impressed that the resort creatively uses large torches to brightly illuminate the outside areas and this helps them navigate the place with easy accessibility.

“Petra said this would be the place.” He put his phone on his pocket and Byleth could only stare in shock.

“Here?” She said almost hesitating. The atmosphere was pleasant since the area was near the beach and it looked secluded with a single torch faintly lighting the area, but…

“Maybe people could see us…” She crossed her arms around her body shyly, thinking it might not be as secret as Sylvain had mentioned.

“Really? Petra told me that this place is perfect for lovers?” He spots the sign ‘secret rendezvous’ and he blinked his eyes when he read an additional note on it.

\------------------------

Dear Sylvain,

‘Enjoy your wife.’

– Petra

\-----------------------

Byleth also saw the message and she observed her husband wincing in a small panic.

“I swear—I asked for a quiet place with my wife!” He said putting his hands up with a flushed expression on his face. He knew Petra was somehow quite frank with him particularly when he used to work with her… but this… was rather…

“She’s bold in her statements. She probably knew you used to be the Gautier playboy. Besides, you were her classmate in one class before.” Byleth lowered her eyes on him, teasing him. Byleth guesses that Petra probably wrote it in the wrong grammar, with her words leaning more as a blessing rather than a tease.

“She was an exchange student! How would I know, _Professor_?” Sylvain replied emphasizing her position feigning his innocence.

“She also worked with you, seeing the many children you bring to work.” Byleth then recalled that Petra might be actually giving them warm wishes in her culture.

“Alright… Alright…” Sylvain sighed. “You win… I probably said something embarrassing.”

“Well, no need to bother with that… we are already here.”

“Then… it would be a shame if we did miss the opportunity to appreciate this place.” Sylvain opens his shoulder bag and takes out a long sheet of cloth and placed it on the sandy ground.

Sylvain carefully lays down on it and motions Byleth to follow him by patting on the saved space beside him with a flirtatious wink.

Still undecided with agreeing on one of his whims, She props herself beside him on the mat. When she lies down, she glances at her husband and noticed that he was not looking at her, but focused his attention on the dark sky.

“I didn’t know Brigid had wonderful views of stars in the night sky.” He said, appreciating the beauty of Brigid’s environment, comparing the light pollution that hindered the appearance of the many stars in Garreg Mach.

“Didn’t you have a lot of stars in Faerghus too?” Byleth asked recalling her visit to his homeland several years ago.

“Yeah… but it seems that Brigid has a vast majority of stars that are brighter and more detailed.” Sylvain took a glimpse of his wife savoring the moment with her.

“Really?” She asked curiously. There was not much of a big difference, she thought as she remembered that it was almost fairly the same in Northern Faerghus.

“Maybe… the reason why it looks wonderful is because you are here with me.”

She turns to him and he smiles at her. It was one of those complex words that she hears from him, sometimes sounding more of a lie, but finding it to be actually more sincere than she had speculated and the easiest way to interpret his words were to examine his expressions.

Just seeing his smile so… wholeheartedly, was enough to emit a blush from her.

 _“This is why I married him.”_ Byleth said to herself, her hesitation fading, feeling the nostalgic moments of affection she had from him even before their marriage.

Sylvain just gives a small laugh and sat up, lovingly moving a few strands of Byleth’s hair on her face.

“Byleth, we don’t have to do it here. Just relaxing here is enough.” Sylvain smiled, already content and satisfied with her company to this _isolated_ area.

Byleth frowned with his words. She was already highly aroused by his words and Sylvain was totally clueless about it as he prioritized her levels of comfort than his own _sexual_ needs.

Sitting back up, she glared at him and shifted her position, promptly moving on top of him. This almost frightens Sylvain, as he winced from her immediate reaction.

“B-Byleth… What are you?” He slightly withdraws his body as she settles her body in his lap, positioning him in between her legs.

“You know Sylvain, for a sweet talker like you… you sometimes miss the chance that the woman actually likes what you said.” Byleth smiled holding his shoulders.

Sylvain was too mesmerized on his wife that he almost completely stuttered on his reply. “Y-You think s-so? Maybe I lost my touch…”

“Losing your touch is one thing… but maybe you really moved on from all that philandering years ago.” She hums a playful tune and uses one hand to comb his hair, relishing on his flustered reactions that she cherished so much. Byleth never had guessed all those years ago that Sylvain felt so happy by finding his purpose in life with her. It was utterly gratifying, yet so… exciting being here with him.

Sylvain’s mind is on a haze. The more she continues her ministrations the more he wanted to just touch her and take her right now.

“Byleth… I…” He mumbled almost moaning to her touches.

 _“Make love to me, Sylvain.”_ She whispered softly, giving him the same words that she said on their wedding night.

Only those few simple words from his wife, instantly made him shudder in bliss.

…

Sylvain’s lips immediately crashed into hers. Their tongues hot and wanting exploring each of their partners deepest parts, as they kissed passionately.

They broke for air to catch their breath for a moment, but their lips find their way back again, both craving for each other all the more. Sylvain’s hands move to hold Byleth’s hips as she encircles her arms around his neck bringing him closer to her. His chest presses closer to hers, and the sensation of her breasts rubbing on him made him whine in approval.

They catch for air again as a trickle of saliva connected them from the intensity of the kiss. Still caught into the pleasure, Byleth impatiently helped him pull off his shirt and when the garment was removed, Sylvain tossed it to the side.

Removing his hands on her waist, he rubs her back feeling her bikini underneath it and pulls her closer to him whispering to her.

“You know why I choose this outfit for you?”

She could feel her husband's breath on her ear, the sensation tickling her.

“W-What?” She stutters as her mind was too focused on pleasure.

“It’s easy to take it off.” He unzips the back of her dress slowly teasing her.

“Hmm…” She hums feeling his hands dip lower to her bottom, squeezing it before he pulls away the dress, tossing it to the same direction of where his shirt was. He debated whether or not he wanted to undress her swimsuit since she looked _perfect_ just wearing it.

“Aren’t you going to take my swimsuit off?” Byleth tilted her head to the side curious, and Sylvain found that gesture quite cute seeing her eyes full of longing from wanting him tonight.

Sylvain feeling more adventurous tonight and he wanted to add a little flair to their _lovers tryst_.

“Yeah… but let’s play a game.” His eyes reveal a tint of excitement.

“A game?” She mumbles somewhat puzzled by his assertion.

“Let’s undress each other… but here’s a thing… we can’t use our hands to remove our clothes.” Sylvain smirks playfully and this only confuses Byleth with his rule.

“How are we going to move our clothes away?”

“Uhh… when it’s off, then we can use your hands!” He laughs as she knew how to contradict his sentences.

She bit her lip, thinking reluctantly if she could withstand this nonsense, but then… it does sound quite… _tempting_.

“Okay… Let’s try it.”

She gave her consent contemplating that it might be as harmless as she thought…

“Then let me start…” Sylvain slowly rests his head on her shoulder and using his mouth he latches on the tied strap on her neck, and then he tilts his head back bringing the straps along with him. She felt the straps falling free from the knots tied to her neck, and her top slips down her breasts, exposing herself to him.

“See? Not that bad after all.” Sylvain grinned feeling accomplished, his hands start to explore her breasts, grasping one breast and pinching it with his hand, getting slightly impatient on wanting to feel her whole body.

Byleth takes notice of this sensing his hands squirm a bit. “You said no touching.” She stopped him from moving further and points to her back making sure he realizes that there were still straps tied to her back keeping her top stuck below her breasts. He hisses, upset that it was still hanging on to her lower chest, just below her breasts.

Immediately, Sylvain held one of her arms upright and bends his head below her, shifting her a bit to the side. He was able to take hold of the strap at her back and he pulls it, still using his mouth. The straps effortlessly went untied and finally, her top was fully free from covering her chest. When he moves back, she watches him as her top was still on his mouth. Byleth smiled as she was impressed on how skillful he had been undressing her throughout the years.

 _“It wasn’t as harmless as I thought it would be.”_ She said to herself enjoying this game. It wasn’t until she felt his throbbing erection underneath her cunt, already hard and ready for her.

Byleth forced herself to endure a little longer wanting to return his unbearable teasing and their proposed game. As Sylvain threw away her top, she pushes him trying to use her body weight to hold him down. He observed her carefully as she lowers her head moving downwards to his swim shorts.

He gasped as he felt her mouth on his waist trying to find a perfect part on his shorts where she could grasp in order to drag it down his legs.

“B-Byleth” He moans clasping his mouth as her lips tugged on the waistline of his shorts and adding more effort to it, it slips down sloppily. She was thankful that he chose to wear a loosely made swim wear, not the professional tight ones from athletes.

“You can use your hands now…” Sylvain mumbles as she successfully, but extremely slowly brought it down to his knees. He was also tolerating her teases, trying to keep it cool notwithstanding her starved gaze on his length. She only gives a sly smile and proceeded to remove his shorts.

She tosses his shorts aside liking the way that he is now more exposed than her.

“Husband, you look quite dashing today.” She teased as she noticed him bare, along with his disordered face, and heavy breaths, she could feel that he’s deeply frustrated from her slight touches. Byleth mustered a wry smile and held his length in hands, stroking it meticulously. He could only whine with her sweet, **sweet** touches, his mind too focused on her delicate fingers rubbing his cock.

Still not satisfied with seeing him melt to her touches, Byleth gleefully licked his length feeling him twitch.

“A-Ah! Byleth!” He hitches his breath and one of his hands holds her head when she opens her lips to take his cock in her mouth, alternating between sucking and licking.

Byleth could feel her core shudder in arousal, getting wetter and more intolerable as she persistently focuses on giving her husband immense pleasure, such that he could not comprehend anymore. The pleasure soon becomes too unbearable and he groans out as he rides out his orgasm.

Dread filled him as he worried about his wife, forgetting to tell her before that he was coming. They had done this before, although he did not want his wife to forcibly drink his own juices. He worries that it might be too much for her, but his senses returned when he sees his wife gagging a little, trying her best to swallow his cum.

“Sorry…” He breathes as his hands tangle in her hair gently massaging her.

Byleth pauses worried about her husband. She withdraws his cock, prompting herself on her shoulders.

“D-Did I hurt you?” She gently wipes her lips and Sylvain could only watch in delight with her juices mixed with his, drooling down from her chin dripping on to her breasts. It was so good, yet…

“No…I-I don’t deserve this…” He continued. Sylvain could not fathom how he was able to gain her love and affection after all the scandalous things he had done in the past. He admits that Byleth inspires him to become a better person, not just for him but also for his choice of living a new way of life in marriage.

She scoffs back at him wondering why he often lacks in self-worth after being married with her for so long. “9 years of marriage, and four children.” Byleth chuckled, fixing her position so she can straddle him.

“When I married you…” She pouts tracing her fingers over to his toned abs. “I already accepted what kind of person you were, the past, the present, and … this.” She teases his length, moving her fingers up and down, fondling it until she felt it harden to her touches.

“Haah…” He moans from the overwhelming desire from her caresses, until she stops and he watches her.

“You don’t know how much you deserve me.” Byleth unties one of the straps on her bottom. Sylvain’s eyes widen when she shifts her hips to allow the swim suit piece to fall on his lower waist, exposing her core to him, wet and dripping with her juices sticking to the swim suit.

“Please show me… how much you deserve me, husband.” She breathes and he instantly joins his body close to her. He kisses her, starving more of her, running his hands all over her body. He loses the game by finally untying the last strap of her bottom suit, freeing her from its restraints. She does not mind him using his hands to take it off, especially when she was already wet and needy for him.

Tossing her bottoms away, he passionately nips her neck as he shifts their position, letting his wife lay on her back. He traces his lips on her shoulder sucking her skin, eliciting a wanton whine from her.

“Please don’t mark me, my parents will see it, and the children...” Byleth breathes asking him pleadingly.

“Sorry.” He whispers, and he inserts his fingers into her cunt, scissoring her cunt open.

She clutches his shoulders from the friction of his fingers moving inside her and when he had curled them inside, she threw head back as she cried frustrated that it was not enough... she wanted more than just his fingers.

“Please! Please! I want you, Sylvain!” She begs repeatedly, too tired from playing his little game, her patience faltering, she urgently needs him, right now.

Sylvain sniggered playfully wanting her to continue begging for him. “I need to get the condoms…” He was about to move, but Byleth held him tight, locking him and wrapping her legs around him.

“I took the pill, so it’s fine…” She frowns, her eyes teary, desperate for him to fill her. It was a relief and Sylvain felt absolutely thankful for his wife about it and with all his frustrations pent up from all their previous teasing.

“Please… I want you to fill me up... inside me.” She whimpers her face turning red from saying something so endearing with her thirst for him. He tried to memorize this wonderful sight, finally realizing this how much he understood her profound feelings for him and to please her; Wanting more from her, he quickly positioned his cock to her entrance.

“I love you.” He mumbles to her and thrusts in roughly. She screams as his cock enters her, and she clenches from the sensual feeling that were stirring her insides. 

“I love you too.” She replies as her vision blurred when he picked up his speed. She matches with his rhythm as he thrusts into her, and when she felt him move his hips to get a better angle of his thrusts, she could only mewl in response.

“Kiss me, my love.” Sylvain said as he continued squeezing into her and she complies, allowing his tongue to enter her as her sweaty body moves with him. Byleth manages to wrap her arms around his neck wanting him to kiss her more deeply. To her surprise, he does and her ragged breaths escape her lips as he began to trail kisses on her chest, to her shoulder, and to her breasts...

“Hmm…” She rumbles lowly as he took a nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue around the bud and then to the opposite side, until she was lost into ecstasy.

As continued ravaging her body, Sylvain delighted in his wife telling himself that she was perfectly beautiful. She was completely gorgeous with the way she exchanged vows with him on their wedding day, the boundless joy he felt when he saw her heavy with his child (and this was blessed with four children)… It was invigorating.

Right at this moment, with the way she moves her hips with him, her breaths and mewls as she melted into his deep thrusts. He felt the immeasurable pleasure of being with someone that he loves the most.

“I’m coming…” He slams deeper into her and she could only nod, feeling her walls clench around him more while he reaches her sensitive spots.

She screams his name as she comes first, and when he finally releases in her, she felt so spent that she felt her husband lying to her side, pulling her into his chest.

“Amazing.” Sylvain said with bated breaths after recovering from an intense love making session with her.

“You were amazing, Sylvain.” She corrected him feeling his cum flow inside her, some of them running down her thighs. He only laughs to her reply and kisses her forehead, showing his appreciation.

…

They rest for several minutes talking about mostly anything they could think of at this moment.

Byleth shared to him that she had read a research paper cited by one of her student's essays. She felt curious about it and wanted to ask him a peculiar question.

“So… Is it a requirement that couples should celebrate Valentine’s Day?” Byleth cupped her chin thinking as she comfortably rested her head on Sylvain’s arm.

“The real question here is: should you have sex on Valentine’s Day?” Sylvain jokes at her random thought and she laughs. He suddenly felt a small breeze blowing in the area and he felt concerned about his wife.

“Don’t you feel cold, Byleth?” He felt her shiver a bit wrapping his hands around her. “Want to borrow my shirt?” He asked and she only laughed at him.

“I'm fine, but remember that time you let me borrow your shirt?”

Sylvain blushed and he quickly covered his face while his wife hilariously laughed seeing more of his cute expressions.

“Yeah…” He said softly hiding his bashful expression underneath his hand.

“You kept touching me for the whole day.” Byleth giggled remembering the time when they were newlyweds. “I couldn’t walk the next day.”

“Ahhhh….” Sylvain heavily sighed, remembering how it was actually just _not about touching_ , but letting her walk around the house, _only_ wearing his shirt.

“Then you better pay for the box of condoms I bought in the airport!” He removes his hands to look at her, trying to gain an equal footing with her teases.

“Y-You bought a whole box?!” Byleth’s eyes widen and she laughed more thinking of how sneaky he had to be hiding it from her parents and their children.

“You didn’t tell me you were on birth control!” He winces disappointed that he cunningly bought it while he lied about going to the toilet.

“Anyway…” He places his hands on her thighs feeling his dried cum sticking on her innermost parts. She pauses feeling his soft caresses as she watches him move closer to her face. “You actually like it when I release it inside of you, rather than I use a condom.” He teased and to his success, she blushes as her eyes widened.

“I’m more responsible though…” She pouts looking away from him. “I learned my lesson from that ‘ _pull-out_ ’ game”.

He stiffens as he remembered those horrible memories on how Selene was conceived.

“Hahaha! The _pull-out game_ …” He frowns, cringing on such a stupid idea that he proposed before.

“We ran out of condoms that day and you told me a brilliant idea… that you would pull out.” Byleth snickers remembering that she believed in him.

“I did pull out at the right time!” Sylvain defended himself remembering that he played the game flawlessly. “It still got you pregnant.” He lowers his eyes in regret.

“We had a bad argument after that.” Byleth recalls the screams of anger in their previous apartment. That was the worst fight that they ever had. Recalling that they started arguing about trivial things, almost threatening a divorce.

“That’s why Maia’s feistier than her siblings… She felt the emotional impact of our quarrels.” Sylvain thought back to those challenging times. Every time Byleth would arrive home, they would always fight.

“You know… It broke my heart when Maia told me that it was her fault that we were fighting. I knew that it had to stop.” Byleth starts to stroke Sylvain’s face. “I sat down alone and cried in the toilet. I was already heavily pregnant, stressed from work and my home… then you went inside and handed me a tissue.”

“And we had sex.” He joked and she pinched him. “Oww… I was joking!”

“Okay, Okay! But you said something to me that made me want to stay until now.”

“Was it _Marriage is a work in progress_?!” Sylvain said proudly. “Or was it… Please smile because I’ll keep smiling for you.”

“Both.” She kissed him softly. “And yeah, we had sex afterwards.” They both laughed from the aftermath, feeling fulfilled that they had overcome this difficult milestone.

“Selene turned out to be the most obedient child, Symon the smart one, and Mikhail… the cute one!” Sylvain said happily thinking about his children.

“We had come a long way, haven’t we?” Byleth smiled.

“But this is only the beginning!” Sylvain sweeps Byleth off the mat carrying her bridal style. “Let’s go skinny dipping before this night ends, yeah?”

“You mean wash ourselves before we return to the cottage?” Byleth corrected him, giggling from his bold words and she kisses her husband’s cheek.

“And that too…” He laughed as he brought her to the shore ready for another round.

“I love you, Byleth.”

"I love you too, Sylvain."

He kissed her under the moonlight taking her again for the second time. He smiles as it wasn’t only the intimacy they were sharing, but it was also the love they had for one another.

…

**EXTRA HOLIDAY STORY:**

The next day, Petra comes by and gifted Byleth the most exotic, yet tempting outfit Sylvain ever saw. The outfit originated from Fodlan but was passed on to Brigid, due to their custom of dancing.

“The outfit is called a _dancer ensemble_. We use it during a traditional dance for welcoming foreigners to our homeland.” Petra smiles as she fixes the straps on Byleth’s shoulder.

“Mommy, you look like a goddess.” Selene held her mother’s hand highly fascinated with her outfit.

“What do you think, Sylvain?” Byleth shifts to her side and his eyes trail of her slit going above her waist.

“It’s great…” He grins nervously putting his hands behind his neck trying his best to avoid staring at her.

“I have an outfit for the girls too.” Petra brings out two more sets of clothes for Maia and Selene. This outfit was the almost same as their mother, but when the children wore it, they outfit included some shorts worn inside the skirt.

“Take a picture!” Sitri excitedly said seeing how cute the children and their mother looked. She also wore the same outfit as Byleth.

Sylvain groans in deep frustration knowing that his wife would wear such a tantalizing outfit for the whole day as they head on another tour around the city streets.

…

After the tour, It was already dark outside the cottage and the children are fast asleep, except for their parents hiding in the bathroom. However, they weren’t hiding, but having another secret rendezvous.

“Sylvain… Wait…” Byleth muffles her moan as Sylvain kisses her neck.

“Last night, we already teased each other to our wit’s end.” She said hitching her breath as his hands massaged her thigh. He only groans as he pulled down his pants hungrily.

“Ugh… You look gorgeous especially in this outfit.” He pulls down her underwear and he wraps her legs around his waist.

“Byleth, I want to you to keep it on.” He whispers to her ear and she flushed red, unknowing the effect of her outfit (and her charms) has on him.

“But… make it quick…” She holds onto his neck as he quickly thrusts inside her. Byleth could only muffle her screams of pleasure afraid that the children could hear it.

…

**6 years later…**

“Daddy, you weren’t tickling mommy. You were having sex and I vaguely remembered our trip to Brigid and you two were in the bathroom.” Symon said while the family was having breakfast. The boy was already 9 years old, finding more about it during homeroom class, getting aware of the small sounds he heard that exact night.

Sylvain’s mouth hanged wide, almost dropping his cooked eggs when he heard it, but Byleth was an expert, she just kept silent while eating.

“Pfffttt…” Maia, already 14 years old, tried to hold her laughter as she took a bite of her pancakes.

“Symon, don’t say such things while we are eating.” Selene scolded her younger brother as she placed emphasis on respecting the family time. She was already 11 years old.

The young 6 years old (almost turning 7 years old) Mikhail only watched his siblings wondering what they were talking about. _“What’s sex?”_ He muttered and the siblings stared at the each other indirectly looking at Maia to explain what it really means.

“My dear Mikhail, I guess it’s time for you to learn about the birds and the bees…” Maia stood up and took a piece of bread, puncturing it in the middle using her knife, ready to use it to expound the topic to her younger brother.

“Maia, don’t play with your food!” Selene retorts a little embarrassed. “And Mikhail… It’s just gross! You’ll learn it when you get older!”

“Don’t spoil the fun, Selene!” Maia brushes it off. “My class teacher always said that we should know about these things for our own safety!”

“That’s enough! I finished the eggs, better eat it!” Sylvain diffuses the talk by placing the eggs on each child’s plate.

“Thank you daddy.” Selene smiled as Sylvain placed the egg on her plate. Selene’s good manners easily influence her siblings and they thank their father for the wonderful meal.

…

Even as they ate, Mikhail kept on persistently asking his siblings about it.

“Anyway… you see Mikhail…” Symon continues as he took the last bite of his food. “We all have a reproductive system in our body. When the female body produces an egg, there must be a sperm which is coming from a male body, and when they connect together, it forms into a baby.” The boy was quite bright for his age and applying what he had learned, he tries to explain the scientific way for his brother.

“Then are those the sounds you heard… from the egg… and sperm?” Mikhail asked confused and Symon flinched as he saw Mikhail taking the egg and poking it commenting that it does not make a loud sound and this only alarms his older brother who felt upset that he was unable to explain it into further detail.

“Thank you, Symon. That’s all Mikhail needs to hear.” Sylvain took a breath of relief.

“But daddddyyyy, Mikhail still doesn’t know the real meaning! Let me explain it, I know it very well since I’m the oldest!” Maia winks giving the same aura as her father years ago.

 _“No, you don’t.”_ Sylvain and Byleth said to themselves, not wanting to destroy the girl’s confidence.

“Basically, it’s all the **baaaaaaaaaad** adult things, you don’t ever want to know!” Selene interrupts not wanting her sister to say the wrong things.

Soon, the three siblings started arguing on the best words to say to their younger brother.

Byleth raises her hand getting their attention. “Let me speak.” And the children became quiet.

“It’s very simple.” Byleth patted Mikhail’s back. “Your mommy and daddy love each other very much. We kiss in private and now your mommy is pregnant with a baby.” Byleth rubbed her stomach showing off her small lump.

The children dropped their mouths open.

“Are you really…pregnant, mommy?” Maia’s dropped her fork from the surprise.

“Yes, me and your dad kissed in private and here is your new sibling.”

“Hahahah! Surprised?” Sylvain could only grin ever so anxiously, not knowing the correct words to tell his children. He also found out about it last week when Byleth visited a doctor complaining of a slight fever, only to find it that there was nothing to worry about.

“That’s wonderful, daddy and mommy!” Selene smiled excited for another sibling.

“I’m going to be the responsible sister since I’m old enough to babysit!” Maia huffs in pride.

“Interesting.” Symon puts his hand in his chin intrigued to see the biological process of his mother’s pregnancy.

Then there was a complete silence.

“So the sounds I heard at night…were just mom and dad kissing in private…” The three of them said altogether and Sylvain and Byleth could only stare in shock and in embarrassment.

“We better really have **that talk** tonight…” Byleth nudges Sylvain as he almost chokes on his milk.

Sylvain put down his glass and held her hand. “As long as you’re by my side…then, I will be alright.”

"DADDY! WHY ARE YOU HOLDING MOMMY'S HAND? ARE YOU GOING TO KISS IN PRIVATE?!" Selene gasps scared of the " ** _BAAAD and naughty things_** " adults do. The two children also gasps in shock, including Mikhail, who just wanted to imitate his older siblings.

"Alright kids, time for school. Get your bags!" Sylvain stands up and takes away the dishes distracting the kids for the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, they had that important "talk" about the "birds and the bees" later.  
> I always have pictured Sylvain as the gentle and devoted father as his endings mentioned and Byleth to be more expressive after marriage, sometimes imitating her husband's words and expressions. It was also shown that they had a large family with many children, so in this modern time, 5 children are already very large enough (but I bet the ending of the game they had like 9 children or something lol). I leave it to the reader's interpretation if their 5th baby is a boy or a girl ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
> 
> Anyway, thanks for sticking by until the end. This fanfic had given me lots of joy but also the immense suffering as a n00b fanfic writer (writers, you all understand my pain).  
> Please leave some feedback if you want and stay safe during these challenging times.  
>   
> 


	11. Stay At Home (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a "What-If" story featuring the family were under house quarantine. This is not really part of the storyline.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Children's ages:  
> Maia is 10 years old;  
> Selene is 7 years old and Symon is 5 years old.  
> Mikhail recently turned 3 years old.
> 
> I wrote this draft a few weeks ago but I scrapped it because I was going through some adjustments with the isolation stuff going on. I went back to this after finishing an assignment and I decided to edit it for fun. It took some time debating whether I should post this or not... Eventually, I gave in because I enjoyed the concept of it.
> 
> Some angst, and mostly fluff???

**_SLAM!_ **

Byleth quickly shut the door, locking it securely. Finally alone, she fell down on the floor brushing off the sweat from her forehead from exhaustion. Her alone time was interrupted when she heard her children from the other side of the door.

_'What in the world happened?'_

She thought to herself.

Is this punishment from the goddess that it was her lack of self-control that she had given birth to four hyperactive children? There was no escape, she wanted this after all and that is… She had sex with her husband that resulted into having _beautiful, healthy, strong, AND **energetic**_ children with him.

As a result, She had accepted her fate and that is...she had to endure this whole home quarantine for a bit longer, all the while being trapped with her children and her _clingy_ husband. It has been almost 3 weeks since her hyperactive children stayed at home. They have already stretched out most of her patience and she just needed _5 minutes_ for herself to take a short breather.

Also...Her husband was supposed to be with them, comfort them, coddle them, and do whatever to calm them down! _Please!_ How the in the world does he manage them anyway when she is at work?

Sadly, he had to go out and buy groceries, leaving her all alone to stay with the children. If she wasn’t so careless with forgetting some items, she would have been the one buying the groceries instead.

She took a very deep breath trying to mentally prepare herself that she needs to open the door sooner or later. She loves her children, _yes, absolutely!_ They are sweetest children! (Of course, any parent would say that out of love). That’s why as a good parent, she knows that she can’t project her frustrations on them. She needed this personal space to calm down before she returns to them.

Glancing at the room, she notices the finished drawings of her children on stuck on the wall. One of them reads “ _I love you mommy_ ” from Symon and the two other drawings were pictures of her and Sylvain. The drawings gave her the motivation to return to the _battlefield_ but… her children’s shouts became louder and louder.

It had gone almost completely feral! The madness!

“Mommmmmmmmy, Open up! I demand you open up!”

Maia shouted on the other side relentlessly knocking on the door. Maia is the cheeky one. She often runs into trouble similar to her father during his younger days. Inheriting Sylvain’s way in using carefully chosen words to sway people into empathizing with her and giving what she wants. Byleth was all too familiar with this and she had to be extremely cautious when Maia asks something from her.

“Mama! Mama!”

Mikhail stood beside his older sister influenced and highly intrigued with her actions. Since Maia is the eldest, most of her antics were frequently copied by younger siblings. Mikhail is the unlucky youngest sibling that often followed his older sister with any demands she tells him to do. Sylvain finds it hilarious that the boy always stuck close to Maia. It contrasts the relationship between him and his older brother, Miklan.

Following the demands of the two children, Selene’s response was to cry for attention, banging the door with her fists.

“Mommy! Don’t leave us here! Waaaah!” Hearing Selene’s cries hurt Byleth’s heart because the girl was too selfless for her own good. Sometimes, a little _too nice_ which Sylvain commented that she tends to be ‘ _a goody-two-shoes_ ’ but he feels really guilty for coddling her too much during her early years.

“Mom.” Symon said calmly. “I’m gonna tell daddy that you hide in the room and made Selene cry.” He huffed, almost convincing her.

Unlike the three children, Symon is often quiet and composed and rarely leads to trouble, but he can be very clever like the time he meticulously hid chocolates under his bed where his father could not see it. _(Sharing almost the same ingenuity as his mother, Byleth found the boy’s secret stash and took it away.)_ Nonetheless, Byleth could barely hear his words from the cries, wails and shouts of her three other children on the door.

Staring at the clock, Byleth pushed her hair back groaning loudly. _5 minutes_ was up. It was time to open the door.

“Okay, mommy is going to open the door.” She said, but deep inside, she dreaded on what is about to happen and repeated:

_“They are my children and I love them… They are my children and I love them… **They are my children and I love them…** ”_

Following her instruction, She heard Maia shouted in joy, followed by her faithful _follower_ , Mikhail.

“Hooray!!!” They both shrieked in tandem.

When she opened the door, the children immediately barged in the shared room of hers and her husband. Excitedly, Maia and Mikhail jumped on the bed, rolled around, and laughed like the happy and hyper children they are, messing and crumpling the sheets on the bed.

Seeing the mess in front of her, Byleth face palmed and took a long sigh that she just fixed the bed an hour ago.

She was about to scold them until Selene hugs her waist crying.

“Mommy, why did you leave us alone? _Don’t you love me?_ ” She said miserably, sobbing uncontrollably. The girl was emotionally sensitive (Byleth blames her husband for this) and Byleth took the girl in her arms comforting her.

“No, mommy just went to the bathroom.” She definitely lied, not wanting to hurt the child’s feelings. “You have to be strong Selene. Daddy and Mommy love you very much.” She rubs her back easing her and the girl lessens her cries feeling much better.

Selene wraps her arms around her mother’s neck, nuzzling her closer. She likes the feeling of being loved by her parents which Byleth notices her clinginess similar to her husband. Despite Selene’s clinginess, Byleth remembers Mercedes used to hug the girl in her preschool years to help her calm down. Mercedes notes that Selene just needed more encouragement from the adults around her.

“Mom.” Symon tugs the bottom of her shirt and he points to his siblings on the bed.

“Can I play too?” He asked nicely. At least Symon was more self-controlled than the others. Then she remembered that the other day Sylvain had a talk with the boy of listening sensibly to instructions in exchange for a sweet treat.

Byleth glances at the two children playing, and looks back at Symon.

“Alright.” She sighed _again_ and Symon grinned inheritably looking like his father’s beaming smiles.

“Thank you, mommy.” Symon instantly dashes to the bed and screams “ ** _Canon ball!_** ” as fell into the bed and the bed bounced from contact. The two siblings already in the bed started throwing the pillows around hitting each other in the process. After a few minutes, Selene felt better and she joined in with her siblings as well.

For the children, playing in their parent’s room was something really fun and enjoyable. Although for Byleth, it was a nightmare. She questions her sanity on how she managed to give birth to **_four_** of them and raise them altogether in this house. All of them inherited a part of her husband’s good looks, but it _also_ includes the whole package of Sylvain’s intolerable personality.

Byleth murmurs to herself. _‘Sylvain’s going to see the mess and panic when he gets back.’_ She shakes her head. She knows that Sylvain would be nice enough to fix it for her and the thought of him cooking, cleaning, and **_especially caring for the kids_** was completely overwhelming for her to do herself. Though, she would feel guilty if she did not take part with the family responsibilities.

Her thoughts were interrupted with a voice calling from downstairs.

“I’m home.” It was her husband. He just arrived home from the grocery.

 _‘Oh no.’_ Byleth gasped and the children heard it too and their smiles became wider.

“Papa!” Mikhail jumped out of bed and he runs straight downstairs, Maia following after him shouting from the stairs “Dadddddddddyyyyy! Did you buy me potato chips?!!!” Byleth could hear their excitement with the sound of their heavy footsteps running down the stairs.

“Hehe, Chocolates.” Symon smirks getting out of bed and follows Maia. Sylvain promised the boy that he would get him the sweets he wants if he finished his homework and listened to mommy.

“Daddy is home!” Selene already out of bed follows her brother downstairs, with no reason to be excited, except seeing her father coming home safe and sound (especially looking forward on giving him a big hug).

Byleth slowly followed her children downstairs reminding herself to convince Sylvain that she would fix the bed when he took a shower.

* * *

Around 2pm, Byleth had an online meeting with her colleagues from work. Seteth, the academic coordinator, was there to supervise and relay the procedures set by the institution in delivering online classes to the student’s next week. Annette and Felix were also in the meeting as Felix recently finished his Ph.D. degree in Physical Therapy. Sadly, his graduation had to be postponed, although it wasn’t a big deal because he wasn’t even planning to attend anyway (It was more of Annette that expressed her anticipation and excitement to see him on stage and take his certificate). The university has decided that he would be teaching Anatomy and Health with Well-being in the next semester.

“Congratulations, Professor Fraldarius.” Seteth said on the video call, congratulating the success of one of his staff.

“Uhhh… Sorry Seteth, but which _Fraldarius_ are you congratulating?” Felix seriously asked with a frown, a bit picky on his supervisor. He wanted to remind everyone that he recently married Annette last year. The sole purpose was to remind his colleagues that there are now two people with the family name of Fraldarius in the faculty. Annette only shook her head in the video call out of embarrassment keeping her stance as a professional.

“Oh, Forgive me. Professor **_Felix Fraldarius_**.” Thankfully, Seteth was more sympathetic than the headmaster of the university, Rhea.

“Thanks.” Felix said, but some of the staff like Professor Manuela gave a small laugh because it sounded funny that Felix was highlighting his marriage status and everyone understood the “ _joke_ ” of Manuela. After this unplanned icebreaker, Seteth started instructing the professors about the changes to their teaching plans.

* * *

“Professor Byleth, what is your take on this?” Seteth asked and Byleth gave him a run down on the response her students gave to her the other day.

“As you can see… Over here.” She screen shared the feedback results from her survey for her colleagues to see. “The students have developed some concerns over…”

The door opened from behind her, but Byleth was too absorbed in reading the data in her laptop.

 _“My, My professor.”_ Professor Manuela suddenly comments holding her laughter and Felix gave a slight cough then muting his microphone in the process and Annette does the same covering her mouth in the video. Professor Hanneman only smiled politely. Seteth seemed to stare in shock and when Byleth pauses and notices the strange behavior of her colleagues, she notices Sylvain visibly seen at the video behind her, _shirtless_ wearing only his shorts. He was checking the drawers behind looking for _something_. He was too busy to notice that he was seen in the video call.

“E-Excuse me.” Byleth awkwardly blushes from embarrassment that she was unable to foresee such an event to happen. She shifts her laptop slightly away from the angle where her husband stands and he was out of sight.

“Ehem.” She intentionally coughs showing her professionalism evident in her expressions.

“As I was saying…” She continued her report and fortunately, Seteth did not comment anything about it after the meeting.

* * *

“Finally…” Byleth took a deep breath as her colleagues left the chat room. Suddenly, Sylvain enters the room again still shirtless and wearing those flashy loose blue shorts. The temperature was getting warmer and for someone like him that was raised in a cold place. It was getting a lot warmer for him.

“Hey Byleth.” He moves back to the drawers as Byleth turns her attention to him. “Have you seen a box inside this drawer?” He asked continuously shifting his eyes around the room. When he saw Byleth’s laptop he anxiously tenses as Felix was still visible in the video chat.

“SYLVAIN!” Felix interrupted angrily from the laptop and this startled Byleth turning her gaze back to the laptop with wide eyes full of shock.

“What in the world are you doing behind Byleth’s back during our staff meeting?” Felix hisses and he could hear Annette trying to calm her husband down.

Sylvain looks at him surprised. “ _Staff meeting_? What do you mean?” He was oblivious to the little cameo that happened just a while ago. He stared at Byleth indirectly asking her to give him a clue and she points to the drawers and the webcam of the laptop giving him clues for him to notice the connection. Noticing how easy the video in the laptop shown the drawers behind Byleth, he then realizes that he was clearly seen during Byleth’s work meeting.

“Now you know?” Felix said grumbling how indecent he was not giving consideration to his wife’s work.

“Uhm, I-I was… looking for something.” Sylvain crosses his arms and looks away. His face flushed knowing that he humiliated his wife in front of her colleagues unknowingly.

“Put on a shirt. Have some decency in front of your wife.” Felix lectured him and Sylvain grinned wanting to tease his childhood friend.

“What? Don’t you _also show_ your body to your new wife, Felix?” Sylvain said putting his arms up in a gesture to give emphasis to his point.

Felix was about to continue criticizing his friend until a pillow fell into Sylvain’s face.

“Oof!”

Byleth threw it annoyed that her own family is driving her crazy.

“Hey, what gives?” Sylvain asked his wife pulling the pillow off his face and throwing it back to the bed.

“Stop it.” She commanded. Her look serious and he gulped because he knows that it’s _THAT look again_ telling him to refrain from saying embarrassing things to his friends.

Sylvain felt her glare and annoyed expression. “Okay… I’ll put on a shirt.” He dejectedly goes back to the drawers and puts on a new shirt.

Felix shook his head with a hand on his forehead. “That’s much better.” He said and his face softens just a tiny bit. “Byleth, you have to remind him constantly, berate him if you must, imagine if you were teaching the students and this happens.”

“Felix, Seteth didn’t say anything, he understands the circumstances of us working at home. Don’t be too mean.” Byleth hears Annette standing behind Felix and bending down to show her face to the video call.

“Hello Byleth... and Sylvain.” Annette waves to them both.

“Hi Annette, please inform your newlywed husband that it’s okay to just wear shorts at home please.” Sylvain said crossing his arms and Felix disagrees.

Annette nodded with her gaze set on Felix. “I hate to disagree with my husband but Sylvain has a point.”

Felix just looked at her shocked that his own wife agreed with the scandalous skirt chaser. “What? You should be on my side!”

“Yeah, just 10 minutes before the meeting, you wore a jacket to cover your unprofessional _blue undershirt_.” Annette admitted and Felix just flushed holding on to the zipper of his jacket. He got afraid that she might tear it off to reveal what’s underneath to Sylvain and Byleth.

Sylvain smirked proudly laughing at the small comment of Felix's undershirt. “You see Felix, nothing wrong with feeling more comfortable at home. It was a mere accident.” He said defending his point.

Annette agreed with him. “But Sylvain…” She pointed out. “ You have to be more vigilant when your wife is on the chat room. You never know what could happen. You are at home after all! With Me and Felix, we have to---”

“That’s enough.” Felix covered his mouth trying to hide the red expression on his cheeks. He was trying to hide something from Annette’s words. “Anyway… Dimitri wanted to have a video chat next week so be ready, Sylvain.”

Before Sylvain could reply, Felix logged out and Byleth could finally take another breather. the thought of working at home brings her too much stress. She needed a break (a _really nice long break to be honest)._

“Um, Byleth?” Sylvain inquired as she slumped down on the bed. Her husband also was one of the problems why she has been so stressed out.

“Have you seen a small box in the drawers?”

She groggily turned to look at him. “What kind of box is that?”

“Well…” His voice trailed off shyly. “ _Condoms_.”

“Oh.” She uninterestingly frowned comprehending what he said. “Why do you need it?”

“I left it in the drawer… I was looking for it just in case… _You know_ if we ever need it at night or something.” It was almost a direct question if she was up for it.

Byleth groaned pulling herself out of bed. She wanted a good rest from all of this mess and her husband only has one thing in mind… to have sex with her.

“Sylvain, I---” She was about to respond until she remembered that he was looking for it during the meeting. Her colleagues would have seen him holding that box if he found it!

Instantly, she threw another pillow at him. “No!” Her face flustered and irritated. She was about to be as mad as her children.

"B-Byleth, are you alright?" Sylvain saw how furious her expressions were and he became anxious.

“Y-You!” She stuttered trying to hold her anger. “If you found the box, then my colleagues would have seen it!”

Despite noticing how angry she was, Sylvain downplayed her words. “It’s no big deal. We are married. They should know.” He said not really bothered with it. Byleth knows he tends to be like this. His carefree attitude was the source of many problems during his youth, and traces of that still remain when she married him. The nerve of this man… He doesn’t care about the repercussions that affect her.

Byleth grit her teeth. She wanted to hit something in response to her husband’s comment.

“You don’t understand!” She shouted with her face fuming with rage, she pushed the duvet of the bed on the floor. “I have to maintain my professionalism! You are _very_ fortunate that it was only Seteth, and he understands the circumstances at home. But…If you continue this ignorant nonsense, it’s going to strain my job. I have to keep my job so I can feed all of you! It’s so hard to keep you all alive! Do you think it’s easy for me to stay home all the time during the lockdown? I’m trapped with you and the children because of this widespread sickness! I should be out there and earning money, not this…!” She finally burst.

Byleth stood up meeting his gaze. Tears fell from her eyes from all the frustrations pent up from putting up with her family: the restless children, the carefree and oblivious husband, the pressure on her being the breadwinner, the situation outside forcing them to stay at home. It is apparent that the divorce rate had risen up from forcing couples to stay at home. Maybe she never realized how incompatible she was with him or how her tolerance levels were.

Sylvain stood there, unmoving, startled, trying to comprehend the situation. His mind was thinking of ways how to approach her.

“Byleth…” He said softly, sweetly, his voice almost trying to comfort her.

He took a step forward but she put her hand in front of him, stopping him from going further.

“Please leave me alone.” She didn’t look at him. She was too tired to argue if he ever said something back.

“Byleth, we can talk this out.” He said, ready to calm her down.

“Sylvain, I’m angry that my patience is running out especially with you and the children. You are always so clingy, Maia’s too demanding, Selene cries a lot, Symon tends to tell you how bad of a mother I am… and Mikhail… He’s… just too restless, makes a mess, cries, and I have to potty train him while the kids run around the house...” She can’t believe what she was saying. The words from her mouth cut her deeply, but they were finally released from the small bubble that she had kept for weeks. Psychological evidence suggests that anger is a state of temporary insanity and Byleth knew this as she was very close to that. She was already falling into rage.

“Please just get out. I need a break.”

Sylvain kept silent. He was about to mumble something but nothing came out from his mouth. Slowly, he turned around towards the door and looked back at his wife just in case she needed something but there was no reaction from her.

“Sylvain.”

He was about to leave but she called out to him.

“Y-Yes?” He stared back at her startled by her voice.

“Thank you.” She said quietly.

* * *

Upon leaving the room, he leaned at door taking a deep breath. Even as she thanked him, he felt her rage lingering in her voice. He admits that he finds difficulty in responding to her when she gets upset. It was easier during his youth; he was too heartless enough to care about the women he offended. He was used to rejection after all. Dismissing his thoughts about the feelings of the women he dated was his cup of tea.

Nevertheless, this one particular woman hurt him the most because it was the woman he chose to spend his life with. He stood there debating on how many minutes, hours… even days, until he could go back inside and see if she felt better.

His thoughts were interrupted when Mikhail ran to his arms crying that Maia ‘ _push him_ ’.

He wiped the boy’s tears giving him the usual smile cheering up the boy. He teaches him that he needs to talk to his sister that ‘he didn’t like it when she pushes him’, a big contrast from the way he treated his wife today.

* * *

For the whole afternoon, Byleth remained inside the room. Not going out once, until Sylvain knocked on the door.

“Byleth, dinner is ready.” He said.

He wasn’t expecting her to reply but the door opened and he jumped when Byleth appeared.

“Thank you.” She said, but he observed the dried tears visible on her face.

Ignoring him, She walked passed him down the stairs and ate with the children quietly.

Sylvain could only watch her silently as Byleth barely ate her dinner. The way she responded to her children was different too. She would just smile and nod, but said nothing else. After leaving the dishes on the sink, she retreated to her room leaving him with his children.

* * *

After reading the favorite storybook of Symon and Mikhail, Sylvain notices that they fell fast asleep. Proudly smiling at them, he kisses their foreheads and slowly walks back to his room.

He gently peeks inside to see that his wife was already on the bed. He hovers over to her checking if she was really asleep.

He was correct.

She was sleeping soundly. He debated whether to give her a goodnight kiss but then decided not to, since she was facing away from him.

Maybe she’ll talk to him about it tomorrow, perhaps?

He closed his eyes and he fell asleep thinking about her, forgetting that he was looking for a certain box…

* * *

The next 3 days continued as usual.

Byleth ate breakfast with them and retreated to the room again. When Sylvain enters the room, he observed that she was already busy doing her online lectures to her students. He saw that she looked so exhausted, her eyes were empty from the additional stress her work gave her, and the way she smiled concealed her true feelings of unhappiness. She wasn’t like that before and he could tell that she got this habit from him and watching her so down seemed to burden Sylvain significantly. He couldn’t think straight from his worries about her.

“Dad?” Maia said bringing him back to reality of daydreaming about his wife.

Sylvain snapped out of his thoughts hearing his eldest daughter. He was helping his three children on the table with their assignments.

Blinking his eyes, he stood upright and leans closer to Maia checking what she had written.

“Oh, sorry… Do you need help?”

Maia gives him her finished paper and he checks her work. The girl had done her division wrong and he erased an item for her to redo again.

“Daddy, are you okay?” Selene asked. She easily noticed her father’s tired and troubled expression.

Sylvain didn’t know how to respond. He decided to give her a smile instead repeating the same mannerisms like his wife. “Don’t worry Selene, Daddy feels a little sleepy.” He lied. The girl somehow believed him and continued to finish her assignment.

Symon observed his father for a while and he went back to his assignment.

Sylvain checked on Mikhail and the boy seemed to be doing fine as he used the colored pens to draw an “airplane”. Unlike the three children, Mikhail is not burdened with assignments because he was still in his preschool age. To keep him occupied with his other siblings, Sylvain let him do what he wants with the art materials at home.

* * *

When all the assignments were finished, the girls decided to make a pillow fort in the living room. Taking the blankets downstairs, they were very enthusiastic talking about how their ‘home’ would look like. Mikhail helped out with his sisters bringing down the pillows downstairs.

While everyone was busy building their ‘home’, Symon stood by his parent’s room. The boy was quite perceptive, noticing something was wrong with his mother. He wanted mommy to play with them too remembering that she made the very unique ‘home’ using his favorite shark blankets before; he liked it if she could help him build it again.

Symon was taught not to open their door without permission, so he knocked once and then twice, but there was no answer.

“Mommy…” He said warmly calling out for her. “Let’s go play.”

There was no answer.

“Mommy…” He said persistently.

There was still no answer.

He did not want to give up and he used the same trick he usually does for her if his mommy did not pay any attention on him.

“Mommy, I’ll tell daddy that you did not want to play with me.” He pouted knocking on the door.

Despite his words, his mother did not open the door.

The awful silence hurts and the boy stood there frustrated that there was no answer.

“Mommy…” He said and then his voice broke down into whimpers, almost crying.

“Symon!” His father stood there finally spotting the boy. He initially thought the boy was downstairs until Selene said that Symon ' _will invite mommy_ '.

“Daddy…” Symon ran up to him crying quietly.

“What’s wrong?” Sylvain wiped the boy’s tears as he picked him up on his arms.

“Mommy doesn’t want to play with me.” Symon said gasping his breaths from his sobs. Sylvain held him tighter glancing back at the room. He knew that Byleth had lost her patience and was upset and angry at them due to the stress of this mandatory home quarantine.

He gave his son a rub on the back as Symon continued crying on his chest hugging him tightly. “Mommy is really tired right now. You should let her rest.” He said comforting the crying boy.

They stayed like that for a few seconds until Symon pulled back from the hug and looked at his father.

“Daddy, I miss mommy. She didn’t play with us for a long time.” Symon said as he wiped the tears from his eyes. For a young child, a few days means a lot to them. Children are more emotionally sensitive than adults particularly when their parents pay less attention to them.

“I know, but when you feel sad… You have to take a break and that’s what mommy is doing right now.” Sylvain said combing the boy’s curly hair with his hands.

Symon nodded, but then he remembered a storybook that his father read to him.

“Daddy, when the baker was sad because he could not see his daughter. He made cookies for the villagers. Can we make cookies for mommy too?”

Sylvain smiled liking his son’s suggestion.

“Sure. Let’s go make them later before dinner, okay?” He gave Symon a kiss on the cheek.

“Okay!” Symon nodded, but his face was more cheery and satisfied now.

He can’t wait to share the cookies to his mother later.

* * *

Mikhail felt restless and impatient waiting for the cookies in the oven. He did not know what to do other than wait for the dough to form into cookies. He was happy when he rolled the dough into his hands and placed it on the tray, but waiting is a whole new level for him…

Thinking that it has ‘ _finished cooking_ ’ Mikhail reached the oven and tried to pull the handle.

“Time to open!” He said holding the handle but Selene quickly grabbed him pulling him away from danger.

“MIKHAIL! BE CAREFUL!” Selene yelled grabbing her younger brother’s arms.

“Woah, Mikhail!” Sylvain shouted when the oven opened slightly and he rushed over to close it. Luckily, Selene was nice enough to assist him in taking care of the younger siblings.

After taking a deep sigh of relief, Sylvain hovered over to his children checking if they got hurt. Selene was fine and Mikhail had only slight scratches from Selene’s grip although Mikhail took the scratches badly and he cried from the pain.

“Waaaah! It’s painful!” Mikhail cried uncontrollably. After all, he is the youngest and is more likely to cry more intensely than his older siblings.

“It’s okay Mikhail. Daddy will kiss the scratches to make it feel better.” It was a magic trick of Sylvain to his children when they get hurt. However, it had little effect on the boy and he ran away crying for his mother.

“Mommy!” He ran upstairs and Maia was about to follow him until the oven rang telling everyone that the cookies are done.

“I’ll get Mikhail upstairs. So Maia, you have to watch over your siblings. Don’t open the oven without me.” Sylvain said and Maia was responsible enough to follow his instruction as she turned down the oven temperature, but decided to get the cookies when her father goes back downstairs.

* * *

Seeing the door left open, Sylvain slowly crept in the room. He was a bit anxious that Byleth might be more upset as ever, but he saw her holding Mikhail in her arms, rubbing to boy’s back to ease his cries although she appeared surprised by the boy’s actions, not knowing what to do.

“Sorry.” Sylvain said quietly entering the room and Byleth turned to look at her husband.

Grabbing the boy’s underarms, Sylvain took Mikhail back into his arms, but the boy resisted and cried more.

“Mommy! Mommy!” Mikhail cried out to his mother wanting to stay in her arms longer.

Sylvain could see that Byleth reacted to his cries biting her lip as she watched her son open his arms to her continuously asking her to take him back.

Allowing Sylvain to take the boy, she removed her gaze on the boy despite his cries.

“I WANT MOMMY!” Mikhail screamed wiggling himself out of Sylvain’s grip and Sylvain held the child tightly rushing towards the door. Taking a short glance on the laptop, he became conscious that Byleth was about to start her online class in a few minutes.

"MOMMY! MOMMY! I MISS MOMMY!"

Even as the boy continued struggled out of his grip, Sylvain closed the door and brought him downstairs. He contemplates that the children are feeling quite downhearted for the past few days. They possibly could sense their mother spending less time with them.

* * *

"I WANT MOMMY!"

“It’s okay, Mikhail. The cookies are almost done.”

Byleth could hear the soft and gentle voice of her husband comforting her son outside the room. She gripped her shirt as she felt the lingering warmth from her son. Some of his tears drenched a small part of her shirt and she touched it imagining that he was still there in her arms.

Many emotions stirred her up at that moment, her extreme heartache seeing Mikhail sobbing in her arms, the voice of Symon calling out for her, the two girls talking from the other side of the door gloomily asking their father why their mother hasn’t gone out to see them, and her husband’s soothing voice reminding her that dinner was ready. Sylvain had been very cautious every time he enters the room. He silently gave her some sliced apples one time as he hurriedly rushed outside upon placing it on the desk just beside her laptop.

She was mad at them, yet they longed to be with her. If she opted to spend time with them forgetting her own feelings, would they still be a _nuisance_ to her?

 _‘A nuisance…’_ She whispered. Were they really getting into her nerves the past few days?

She shook off these unnecessary feelings tying to concentrate for her online class.

It turns out to be _necessary_ for her when her _family picture_ was displayed in the slides presentation via share screen. She almost spaced out when she saw it, remembering that she added it as example to discuss with her students about _family values_ in relation to her topic about the political elections, hoping that it could encourage her students to share about their family values as well.

“That’s why…” She _almost_ succumbs into tears looking at the bright smiles of her children hugging her and Sylvain in the photo, but she was able to hide it perfectly, she learned this technique from her father somehow.

“There is evidence that family plays a large role contributing to the educational statutory framework in this country.” She finished the last slide, and then it almost hit her badly that she added a picture of her children’s first day of school: Mikhail smiling in his preschool apron along with Selene and Maia’s new dress before going to school, and Symon’s green jumper which originally was repaired from Sylvain’s old clothes. All of them carrying their unique bright colored backpacks decorated with lions (the three children go to a public primary school so there are no required uniforms except Sports and Physical Education).

She concluded that her family wasn’t a nuisance, _it was her thinking all along_.

It broke her heart that she thought about them this way.

* * *

“Byleth, dinner is ready.” Sylvain came to knock on the door to call her again. He had been so consistent in calling her for the past few days that it flooded her thoughts with guilt that he became very attentive to her even when she told him to ‘leave her alone’ the other day.

She just sat there as he knocked on the door. After a few seconds, she expected him to leave but there were no footsteps prompting her that he had left.

He was really waiting for her.

Byleth liked that about him.

Sylvain felt relieved when his wife opened the door. There were dried tears again in her eyes and he blamed himself that it was his fault for allowing Mikhail to escape to their room a few hours ago.

“Thank you.” Byleth said softly and she quietly went downstairs with Sylvain following behind her.

Byleth blinked her eyes adjusting to the additional lights in the kitchen. Somehow, the children used the Christmas lights to decorate the walls and the living room. But then again, her eyes widened caught at the sight of the large banner on the wall.

\-------------------------------

_“We hope you feel better Mommy.”_

_\-------------------------------_

There were scribbles of the children's drawing of her around the banner. She could spot Sylvain’s doodle right beside their work too. Observing their drawings closely, she noticed that the children’s perception of her were always happy, with a bright smile on her face, often cradling them or holding books. However, her husband made a different attempt, with his usual flirty drawing of her smooching him followed by a heart on top of them.

She held her laugh at their drawings of her, but she became distracted when her children rushed in to hug her all at the same time.

“Mommmmmmy! Mommyyyy!!!” The children said repeating those words again and again. This would have irritated her the other day although this time, it gave her the opposite effect. Kneeling down on their level, they started to pamper several kisses to her face and Byleth felt very overwhelmed but in a good way.

“Stop.” She chuckled from their onslaught of innocent pecks and kisses. “It’s too many!” Her face lit up instantly from their show of affections and slowly they stopped.

All of them decided to share their surprise for her.

“Mommy, we made cookies!” Symon said grabbing her hand forcing her to stand up and follow him.

“Sit here mommy.” Selene patted on the chair by the dining table and Byleth obeyed sitting down and facing the table.

Maia held Mikhail’s arms as he carried the tray full of cookies and when he stood beside Byleth. Maia took the tray and placed it on the table.

“Mama, try it!” Mikhail smiled at her pointing to the cookies on the table.

“We made it for you!” Maia said proudly grinning like her father.

Byleth watched her children’s smiling faces. Staring at the decorated cookies, she felt impressed that they think about her all the time. It was evident with their decoration of her happy face using the icing scribbles on the cookies and several of the cookies had “ _Sorry_ ” written in most of them. They were all able to pinpoint that she wasn’t feeling so well these past few days.

But they were the reason why she got mad… and…

“Mommy…” Maia stood frozen as she watched her mother’s eyes tearing up.

“Mommy!” The boys also repeated the same words from their sister calling out for their mother.

“Mommy is crying!” Selene gasped running away to take the tissues from the living room.

“Byleth…” Sylvain rushed over to her side and took the tissue from Selene’s hands.

“Sorry…” Her husband said gently rubbing her face with a tissue, but Byleth shook her head indirectly telling them that they had done nothing wrong.

“I’m so sorry…” Byleth said grabbing the tissue to continue wiping the tears from her eyes.

“I was angry at so many things. Some of you didn’t listen to mommy and I was really sad. I'm sorry that I didn't spend time with all of you.”

Hearing her mother’s cries, Selene hugged her apologizing profusely. “Sorry mommy!” She said and she started to cry as well.

“I’m so sorry, mommy! I’ll listen to you and daddy better! I promise, I’ll be a good older sister!” Maia followed suit sobbing on her mother’s arms.

“Mommy, I’m sorry for telling daddy about you.” Symon tucked his head under Byleth’s arm finding comfort in that position.

“Mommy…Sorry.” Mikhail said cutely leaning on his mother’s leg.

As her children cried with her together, Byleth felt so much better until Sylvain cried with them hugging her from behind.

Feeling her family tightly hugging her from every angle, Byleth giggled asking herself why on earth did she make so many children with her husband? They all seem to overpower her in all sides!

She remembered her pregnancy with all of her children. Holding a small bundle of joy in her arms felt amazing and it filled her with so many different emotions. She never even felt this before. Handling them as they grew, it took a large toll on her and her husband. But still... her overwhelming feelings did not cause her to regret having them.

They always got on her nerves, gave her many problems, destroyed her patience and sanity, but actually she felt so overjoyed and grateful that she felt so loved. Perhaps, this wasn't a curse from the goddess after all.

It was definitely a blessing.

* * *

Byleth woke up slightly waking from the snores of her children beside her.

A few hours ago, they continued playing their pillow fort in the living room after dinner. The living room was converted into a play area: the mattress was on the floor and on top of them was a long blanket draping over the chairs and other materials that Sylvain used to keep it hanging above them.

Admiring their work, the children requested to sleep underneath it for the night and their parents agreed.

Byleth yawned adjusting to her surroundings and she took a look at her children. Mikhail was sprawled out and his arms were stretched open beside her. Next to Mikhail was Symon, who slept on his front as usual not minding that Mikhail’s arm is on his back. Selene nuzzled closer to her father’s shoulder sleeping soundly. Maia was in the middle of Selene and Symon. She snored a little while clenching the blankets on her body.

Byleth gave a warm smile watching them. They were all healthy and growing happily with her. She couldn’t have done it without the help of her husband who should take half… no, most of the credit.

She imagined Sylvain to be asleep but he moved to some extent that she noticed him playing on his phone lying down beside Selene. When he caught her gaze from the other side of the pillow fort, he gave her a soft smile and she returned it with a slight smile, a bit flustered from his expression.

“Do you want to stay next to me?” He asked her moving a little as not to wake up Selene.

“O-Okay.” She managed to say and she lightly adjusted the boys to her side of the bed. They were somewhat used to her touches and they didn’t wake from the movement.

She moves carefully to the other side of the mattress and he takes her in his arms as she leans on his chest. Byleth became accustomed to getting used to sleeping next to him. She likes it to a far extent feeling his warmth with his embrace.

Sylvain pecks her forehead pulling her closer to him and her response was to cuddle next to him wrapping one arm on his waist.

“Are you feeling better?” He asked putting his phone on top of him and locking it to preserve the battery.

“Thank you, Sylvain. I feel much better.” She whispered.

They stayed like that for a while until Byleth called her husband's name.

"Sylvain."

"Yes?"

“I’m sorry that I hurt you and the children. I was feeling under the weather from this whole situation.”

“That’s fine.” He mumbled. “I feel that way too.”

“You do?” She raised her head looking at him.

“Yeah, I get tired from them too.” He said and she could not believe it.

“I thought you love your children? Are you saying that you… Sylvain Jose Gautier, the father of my children gets tired from taking care of them?” She teased and he silently laughed.

“Yup.” He grinned. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my children very much, from the depths of the earth until the infinite galaxies far away, I would sacrifice everything for them. But we adults lose our patience as much as them too… It’s normal. I manage to find ways to relieve myself while my wife locks herself in the room as her way of relieving herself.” He teased her back and she flicked his forehead.

“Owww…” He whined painfully, rubbing his forehead from the small pain.

“Tell me Mr. Gautier, how do you manage to relieve yourself from them?” Byleth asked and he averted his gaze blushing. He was hiding something and she sensed it.

“Sylvain?” She persistently asked until he finally relented.

“Um… Well…” He scratched his cheek trying to say the right words not to annoy her.

“What is it?” She asked interested for his answer. “I would actually want to try it too since you handle them better than me.” She said and he chuckled nervously.

“You know that day when you got mad… because…Uh… I asked for a certain… _box_ …” He continued and then immediately she understood what he meant.

Her face flushed. “So that day… You actually lost your patience and you were looking for the box.”

“Yes…Ah…No… actually… I was looking for you… Hahaha…” He continued to laugh nervously. He expected her to snap at him for being so petty that it wasn’t the box that he was looking for.

“So the past few days, you had to hold it in?” She asked her eyes transfixed on him.

“N-No! I have other ways… than that…”

“Like what?” She asked and he grabbed his phone. She gazes at the lock screen of his phone. It was a picture of their children smiling. Upon unlocking it, she opened her mouth in shock.

This shirt chaser made his home screen a picture of her in a bikini!

“W-What were you thinking with those photos of me? Were you touching yourse--” He hurriedly covered her mouth as not to let the children hear it.

“I’m not like that!” He interrupted saying it a bit louder to explain himself. “I know I had a past, but I’m not looking at those photos of you for my sexu--- _(cough)_ pleasure…” He paused. “Rather, I look at them to remind me how far I have improved and looking at the other photos of our children helps me to appreciate the good memories with you and the children.”

“I cannot believe it…” She lowered her eyes on him not amused with his explanation.

“Okay…you got me… Maybe I do… once or twice.” He admitted and she flicked his forehead again.

“Owww… Okay, I’m sorry… maybe more than twice.” He confessed honestly and she glared at him.

“Now I finally found out why you tend to wake me up in the middle of the night asking for _something_.” She obviously meant something more intimate. He knew that and he shifted his position to turn his body to her. Leaning his head on her chest, he beamed happily feeling her warmth.

She ruffled his hair as he relaxed his head on her. She felt him snuggling on her breasts, but she let him do as he pleased, hoping that he found comfort in her arms.

“I’m sorry Byleth for everything.” He apologized even as his head was pressed to her chest. “I wish I could have done better making you happy.”

He heard her snicker and he felt her rubbing his back.

“You are too clingy, Sylvain.” She said placing a kiss on top of his head. “I like it.”

“What do you mean?” He pulled away from her grasp.

“Thank you for being honest with me, but I’m afraid that I have gotten used to your clinginess so apologizing won’t help.” She touched his cheek caressing it gently.

“What can I do for you then?” He asked liking her touches. He wanted to make it up for her for the pain he possibly inflected on her.

“Teach me how to handle the kids tomorrow?” She suggested wanting to learn his ways of managing them.

“Sure, leave it to me.” He said confidently, determined to assist her tomorrow.

“And…” She lowered her eyes for a short while and she stared back at him.

“Can I have a kiss?”

“Of course.” He giggled pulling her closer to him to give her a kiss. Byleth was never this needy until she married him. She used to be a mysterious and stoic person back when he met her. Following this improvement, he adores how they began to share similar mannerisms and conversations from their shared life together. It was fascinating how far she had changed with him.

He smiled satisfied with her request mumbling in between their soft kisses.

_“I’ll do anything for you.”_

They fell asleep in each other’s warm embrace and their snores started to be in sync with their children.

...The children most likely inherited their snores from their parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is split into two chapters because I find it too long to put in one chapter.  
> but wait... were you looking for smut? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ... eventual smut next chapter.


	12. Stay At Home (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of House Quarantine and Smut included too.

Waking up the next day was not as depressing as a few days ago.

Both Sylvain and Byleth were awakened by kisses from their energetic and happy children. It was a sunny day today and the sun’s rays shining from the windows of the living room happily gave them a reason to start a new day despite the whole home quarantine situation.

But…

**That’s just a silly dream!**

Byleth’s sleep was disrupted when she abruptly heard a loud shout from one of her children.

“No--It should be me!!!!” Symon pushed his sister but the older one immediately shoved him back with greater force, making the boy lose his balance.

Symon fell down on the soft mattress below him due to his small fight with his sister, not aware that it forced his mother to awaken from the abrupt movement in the mattress.

“WAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH MOMMMMMMYYYYY!!!!”

Symon screeched on the top of his lungs crying to his mother to comfort him. Byleth groaned rubbing her eyes to her son's cries. She was searching the room for her husband who disappeared beside her hoping that he would comfort the boy instead of losing her patience.

“What is it this time?” She frowned at them still adjusting to the sun’s rays from the window.

“Mommy!” Maia sniffed holding her tears when she saw the glare of her mother. She was the older one and should be responsible to care for her siblings although Byleth knows that deep down, she’s just a child trying to imitate her father.

“Sorry…” Maia looked down dejectedly as she was told to be the more mature one, although she is often the main influence of how her siblings get into trouble.

“She pushed me, mommy!” Symon said crying and pointing to Maia.

“You also pushed her.” Byleth said as she remembered the two of them pushing each other.

“WAAAAAHHHH!!!! MOMMY! I love youuuuu…” Symon cried hoping that his mother would side with him. Even when the boy looked almost like her husband, she didn’t give in to the boy’s cute features. Maybe it was because she was also a little upset with her husband a few days ago (although she just apologized to him last night).

“I love you too, but it’s not right to push each other. You have to talk to each other.” She properly sat up straight as she corrected the two of them treating them equally to avoid any rivalries in the future.

“Okay mommy.” Symon sniffed as his nose started to run with snot. Maia instantly saw her brother snot running down on his nose and as a good sister, she went and took a tissue from the kitchen.

Byleth then noticed that the box was empty. She needed to buy a new box of tissues when she (or her husband) goes back to the grocery. Reminiscing these past few weeks, the whole family (in particular the children) cried a lot during the lockdown missing the outdoor parks and places they loved, that undeniably contributed to the tissue problem.

Right now, she saddened witnessing the cries of her children. It wound her heart, and as a mother, it was hard not to coddle them.

“Alright, come here.” She opened her arms and the two children cuddled with their mother sniffing and whimpering at the same time.

At last, Sylvain appeared holding Selene and Mikhail’s hands.

“Where did you go?” Byleth asked a bit upset that she didn’t wake up at the same time with him.

“Ah, Mikhail needed to go pee and Selene wanted to come along.” He said rubbing the back of his head.

Sylvain saw the scene in front of him featuring more of his crying children. He was very acquainted to the children's cries ever since they were born. It does also hurt his heart seeing his children and his wife so upset. Rather than ask what happened, he decides to change the topic by a morning greeting and a smile.

“Anyway… Good Morning, my beautiful wife!” Sylvain walked closer to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

The children scrunched their faces seeing their parents affections towards each other. They felt somewhat jealous of it.

“I want a kiss too!” Maia said pointing her cheek to her father grabbing his attention.

“Me too!” Selene protested as the siblings rivalry between her older sister lingered.

“Mikhail also!” Mikhail puffed his cute red cheeks also vying for the affection of his father.

“Symon too…” Symon said rubbing his eyes still hugging his mother.

Sylvain radiated a wide smile tremendously happy to be surrounded with his loving and lively children. Delicately, he kissed each of them one by one making sure they get the equal love they deserve.

“Okay, you got your morning kisses. Let’s do our chores!” He clapped his hands and the children all stood up raising their hands. “Yeah!!!”

The day didn’t start very well, but at least it was a good indication that her husband would be there to help her start a new day with a smile and a wink.

* * *

Sylvain stood proudly holding a whiteboard pen in his hand as he drew and assigned the chores for each child.

The children listened and watched intently at the whiteboard stuck in the refrigerator reminding them that they have to learn about their responsibility at home.

“Okay, so today… The person who would set up the table is Symon. Maia would do the dishes later. Selene and Mikhail will help hang the laundry outside.”

Sylvain said as he illustrated the whiteboard and the children placed magnetic animals on the whiteboard to show the chores that like to do for the day. Byleth deliberated how the children were so enthusiastic to help out with some chores because the colorful interactive drawings on the board fascinated them of their shared responsibilities.

 _'Maybe I could try his strategy next time too...'_ Byleth thought as the children started their chores.

After breakfast, Sylvain asked Byleth to come with him to bring Mikhail to the toilet to help with his potty training. He promised her that he would teach her his ways of parenting since she told him yesterday that she became very frustrated with the boy and the children not listening to her instruction. 

"Maia, can you watch your siblings if they go downstairs?" Sylvain asked his eldest adding another responsibility for the preteen.

"Of course , daddy!" She smiled. The girl was willing to act more responsibly since she turned 10 and Leonie commented that she can handle more complex tasks at her age so she can develop a better self-esteem.

He asked the children to stay near the door of the bathroom so he could see them, but they are welcome to play downstairs if they listen to their oldest sister, Maia. The children did listen and Byleth was stunned on how they listen to their father's instruction.

"How come they didn't listen to me last time?" Byleth asked bewildered on how easy Sylvain manages them.

"Maybe you didn't say the right words?" Sylvain mused.

"I did say many things though..." Byleth replied still wondering what she had said that day.

"I guess it was too difficult for them to understand. I know you work in the university and told the students more complex instructions, so maybe... you can change your wording to much simpler words. Only Maia would understand you if you make it too complicated. The smaller ones here... They would take some time..." Sylvain comments hoping that his experiences can contribute to his advice.

"Besides, they are children, not adults!" Sylvain laughed repeating the words from Mercedes when Maia used to be in preschool.

Byleth stood with him by the open door fascinated with her husband's advice. Sylvain was very diligent when it comes to the matters of their children. He was also updated in reading several parenting books during his spare time. Somehow, Byleth admired his dedication and perseverance with his promise long ago. She wanted to thank him for his continuing struggles being a stay at home father.

"Sylva---"

"I'm done!"

Mikhail called out to his father and flushed the toilet. Byleth blinked in awe observing the scene in front of her.

She was baffled that her son can do it all by himself! Last time, she had to hold his hand as he sat on the potty talking to her nonstop and it was so tedious that the boy didn't even potty! Comparing to now, she saw how her husband stood a few feet away from the boy as Mikhail sat on the toilet waiting for him to finish.

“See Byleth? They tend to look at you with those cute eyes and you might be tempted to spoil them.” Sylvain said with a giggle, feeling a little guilty that he once used to spoil them and learning the hard lesson from his mistake when Selene was in her preschool years and overindulging Symon with sweets.

"I still have much to learn." Byleth said reflecting on how she tended to spoil her children by staying closer with them inside the bathroom. Thus in return, they often reacted to her by allowing her to overly assist them. Since Sylvain did not spoil the boy, Mikhail knew that his father won't help him unless he told him that he was done.

* * *

Later that noon when the family was preparing for lunch, the children checked the whiteboard again to see the things they need to do.

Maia assisted her father with the cooking and she helped peel off the apples with a knife while Symon set up the table and the two children waited patiently for the food.

Everything was going well until Maia started crying.

"I miss my friends at school. I miss Elizabeth... Michael... Martin..." She listed several names in her head. It was been almost 4 weeks, she awfully missed her schoolmates and teachers.

Maia was known to hold her tears. After all, she was the notorious little boss at school commanding her classmates and other children during playtime. It was hard to rein in her sobs and cries suppressing her feelings from this whole quarantine.

"Come here, Maia." Sylvain brought the girl to his warm embrace cradling her in his strong arms.

"Daddy... I miss them..." She sobbed uncontrollably.

"I know... I know... I miss my friends too." Sylvain said as he thought about his friends from the university. They were supposed to meet this week scheduling their meetup a month ago, but it alternately became an online meeting.

"Mommy, can I have a hug too?" Maia asked and Byleth went over to join the hug. Selene also joined as she hugged her sister. Despite the sibling rivalry, the two love each other undoubtedly.

Maia relaxed in their warmth feeling much better.

“But when I am at school… sometimes I miss daddy too.” Maia cleaned her eyes with her father’s shirt with a part of it dampened from her tears.

"And I miss you all too." Sylvain rubbed the girl's back and Maia gave a smile.

"That means... I can eat potato chips for dessert?" She said coating her words with her father's sweet language.

“That means... we better do the laundry today…” Sylvain patted his daughter’s hair and Maia started to laugh.

"Daddddddd! Come on! answer my question!" She huffed upset with his response, but her father only gave a laugh telling her how pretty she looked like eating her vegetables, ignoring her protests and pleas.

It seems that her flowery words didn’t work for her father today.

* * *

Looking outside the window, Byleth smiled accomplished to see all the clothes fresh from the laundry were all hanged. A while ago, the children helped their parents arranged to hang the clothes outside the garden even when Mikhail took a blanket and pretended to be a ‘ghost’.

Appreciating the clean sheets hanged outside, Byleth was impressed that Sylvain leniently allowed the children to help even as they caused minor problems especially Selene and Mikhail.

Selene would often cry if she had done it wrong and Sylvain needed to comfort the girl but this time, he was more firm about it. Her father would now give her less hugs when she cried. He remarks that she was clearly asking for attention and it is not healthy if he continued to spoil her.

Sylvain gave another small talk with Byleth that he wanted Selene to be more independent to comfort herself knowing that she should learn how to control her impulses in the future. Mikhail, on the other hand, was still a toddler so more attention and communication was needed to instruct the boy.

Byleth felt very impressed when she observed her children learning how to do their house chores more independently. She came to a point where she hoped that she could spend more memorable moments with them once this was over.

* * *

“Sylvain, am I a bad mother?” Byleth sat on the table as the children were busy doing their schoolwork. Maia was using another laptop for her online class and Selene was on the table finishing her homework. Symon was practicing his writing and reading while Mikhail was using crayons to draw on a piece of paper.

Sylvain examined his wife curiously. “Why do you ask that?” He was reading a school textbook owned by Maia. He read it in advance so that he knew how to help her when her class would cover the topic.

“I left you all for three days… How did you manage all of them?” Byleth observed the children on the table. They were all absolutely doing well today and she wondered how her husband was able to get them to listen.

“Because my wife is here with me.” He grinned flashing Byleth his charms.

“I’m serious, Sylvain.” She sighed, but was interrupted when Symon casually nudged her.

“Mommy, I’m done writing.” He gave her his textbook. The boy was learning how to write the letters properly and Byleth skimmed his writing. She detected that the boy forgot to finish a page and Byleth showed her son the blank page that he forgot.

“Oopsie, I forgot…” Symon face palmed repeating the same gesture as his mother the other day.

“Don’t worry, just tell me when you are finished.” Byleth patted the boy’s hair and the boy continued his work.

She meets Sylvain’s gaze again and she waited for his answer.

“No, I’m serious! I can’t handle them without you!” Sylvain leaned his chin on his hand. “But… when you used to work, I usually ask the kids to help me with the chores. They do get rowdy sometimes, but when you are here with us. It makes my life easier.” He said showing his sincerity with a smile.

“I see…” Byleth contemplated. No wonder that she was so stressed out. She often did all the chores by herself without asking them to help.

“Please don’t think you are bad mother, my love.” Sylvain said calmly.

“We do admit that we miss you when you are away. The kids make drawings of you, they often ask me what time are you coming back home, they even ask me to call you sometimes. They think about you more than you ever thought. I know this may sound biased but I could really see that the children love you very much…and….” He paused tilting his head to the side hiding his lower face from his hand.

“And?” Byleth asked nonchalantly.

“I love you very much as well…” He blushed letting her know how much she meant to him.

Despite how farfetched it is, Byleth felt better by her husband’s sweet yet sincere words.

* * *

That afternoon, Sylvain brought the children outside to play and Byleth remained inside to finish her work.

Byleth was about to enter the room until she felt a tug on her shirt.

“Mommy? Can I stay?” Mikhail grabbed her shirt asking if he could stay with her inside the room. She initially wanted to say no because she would be distracted with her work, but the youngest child flashed the most irresistible gaze to his mother. It reminded her of the doleful look of her husband when he proposed to her, telling her that he would propose to her over and over if she didn’t believe him.

Unable to resist the boy’s adorable expression, the young charmer scored a _yes_ from her. Byleth pondered if Sylvain used to do the same thing to his parents as well.

“Okay as long as you keep quiet and stay by the bed.” She said and the boy nodded.

Setting up the laptop was easy and Byleth was able to log in the chat room for another faculty meeting.

“Mommy will be busy and will be talking with workmates. Just stay by the bed and play with the tablet for a while. Okay?” Mikhail understood and listened to his mommy so he jumped on the bed and played with the tablet. (Byleth also checked on the tablet to adjust the volume of the tablet to lessen the disturbance of the sound around the room.)

Going back to her workspace, Byleth checked on the laptop and everyone was already present and ready to begin.

“Professor Byleth, I see that most of your students have passed their assignments on time.” Seteth said checking on the report. “I’m currently reviewing those that you have recommended to give an exemption due to this whole crisis.”

“Thank you Seteth.” Byleth replied.

When Seteth reviewed Professor Manuela’s report, Byleth muted her audio as to lessen the interruption due to the sounds inside the room.

**_BANG!_ **

Instantaneously, a loud sound hit the wall and it frightened the young boy on the bed. The sudden sound caused Mikhail to run towards his mother. Byleth was troubled with the sound too and she comforted her son, placing the boy up on her arms even as the video call resumed.

Curiously, she left her seat and went to check on the window to see what had caused that sound; it was obvious what caused the sound seeing Sylvain and the three children playing at the backyard.

“Sorry!” Sylvain shouted from below. They were playing dodge ball outside and the ball just happened to hit the wall of the house.

“Sorry mommy! I hit the ball too hard!” Selene said then she screamed as Maia threw the ball to Symon.

“No! I’m out!” Symon said as Sylvain and Maia high-five each other for getting a point.

Byleth closed the window satisfied after checking the source of the problem. In any case, it was nothing serious which is a relief.

Finally figuring out the problem, she combed her fingers through her son’s curly hair. “It’s just the ball, don’t worry.” She said lovingly and the boy held on to his mother tighter even after she sat on the chair. Shifting their positions, Mikhail stayed on her lap wrapping his arms and legs around her upper body.

Byleth became nervous that Seteth might reprimand her for bringing her child into the video call. However she could not find the heart to leave him. Recalling in her experience with her other children when they were still toddlers, they all tend to be sensitive on their surroundings and needed to be consoled when facing a somewhat distressing event like this.

Gratefully, no one seemed to be bothered by her son in the video.

“Professor Byleth.” Seteth called her and she turned on her audio.

“Y-Yes?” She was taken aback. She expected him to give feedback or contribute any related comments or suggestions from him, but Seteth mentioned something else watching the mother and son in the video call.

“Your son has grown a lot. It reminds me that my child used to do the same when she was still his age. Time has passed so fast, right? I simply do recall that you were still pregnant with him and there was a time after your maternity leave, you visited the office with Mikhail and your husband.” Seteth said as he massaged his chin.

It seems that Seteth found comfort in the family bond that they share remembering his only child, Flayn (who is currently studying a university course about the environment in Sreng). His only daughter was unable to return home and maybe he said this as a form of longing to see his daughter again during these unprecedented times.

“But did you carry her during a video call?” Byleth said accommodating his remark into a small joke because Seteth was the oldest among her colleagues.

Her colleagues responded with laughter from her words and the faculty meeting became a little lighthearted.

“No, but during my time…” Seteth smiled. “Flayn used to stay in my classroom a few times before.”

Even with that personal comment, Byleth felt comfortable since she had been working with her colleagues for a handful of years. They all seem to get along personally so that their professionalism also gives them a chance to bond with each other.

“Your son is adorable, Professor Byleth. He definitely got his charms from his father.” Professor Manuela said noticing the orange curls of the boy’s hair. Manuela felt pleased that these boring faculty meetings became a bit lively as they showed a unique touch of each colleague’s home. In this case, she was able to see Byleth’s child remembering that it has been a long time since she saw Mikhail. The boy probably forgotten her since he was only a baby strapped to his father’s chest when they came by to visit the office.

“So you think he looks more like my husband…” Byleth tensely smiled as the attention of her colleagues shifted all on her.

“Is he sleeping?” Seteth asked as the boy stayed motionless.

Byleth patted Mikhail to gain his attention. “Mikhail, say hi to mommy’s workmates.”

The boy moved back to turn his head and peek at the video and Byleth’s colleagues were able to meet the same blue eyes like his mother has.

“My my!” Manuela said astonished. “He definitely got his eyes from his mother.” She remarks intrigued with the boy’s features.

Mikhail gave a cute yawn and rubbed his eyes with one hand, while the other hand held on his mother’s shoulder.

“Hiiii…” He said sleepily, giving a smile to the strange people in front of him.

“Awww…” Most of them said. Even the _overly seriou_ s Felix showed some reaction to the boy’s cute expressions. The boy’s charms seem to captivate her colleagues and Byleth enjoyed their unusual reactions to her son.

After a few minutes, Seteth summarizes the meeting with a short suggestion. “I could see that home quarantine really has affected us all. Alright, that’s all for today, thank you for all your hard work.” Seteth nodded and he concluded the meeting.

When the video call ended, Byleth gave a kiss to her little boy’s cheeks. She feels a little sad that the boy grows older every day, similar to her son, Symon. She misses her older children looking so small and cute, but she also wants them to mature into responsible adults.

“My baby Sylvain.” She kissed the boy again and Mikhail delighted on the pampered kisses from his mother. He really did miss his mother for the past few days.

* * *

A few hours later, Mikhail ran downstairs to join his siblings to watch their favorite show in the television and Byleth stayed in the room finishing up with her work.

Sighing quietly from reading the report that Seteth asked her to finish, she leaned her back from her seat determined to take a short break. Her thoughts were disturbed when the door opened with a click.

“Do you have a class, baby?” Sylvain peeked in the room checking to see if his wife would be interrupted. Byleth did not turn to look at him but she just waved her hand telling him to come in. At the very least, he learned his lesson from last time and did not want to disappoint her.

“Good.” Sylvain entered the room while Byleth continued her work.

She hears him shuffle the drawers and she abruptly felt so tired from thinking.

Accidentally glancing to her side, she swallowed when her eyes caught sight of her husband’s drenched and sweaty body as a result from playing with their children outside. It seems that he took away her attention distracting her to ogle at him.

“It’s getting hotter in Garreg Mach.” Sylvain mumbles whispering to himself feeling uncomfortable with the warmer climate outside and he ruffled his fingers through his hair, pulling his hair back, making Byleth’s face turn red at the luscious scene just in front of her view.

She felt her body getting hotter on the view of him pulling off his shirt and her eyes travelled on his body relishing on how he managed to keep himself fit from his daily pushups in the morning (even as the children sat on his back).

While her husband uses his previous shirt to wipe the sweat from his upper chest, Byleth’s lips opened slightly at the thought of how she loved to sensually touch them on their affairs in the bedroom… the way she wraps her arms around his neck as he took her roughly on the bed, and how cautiously she slides her hands on his chest moving lower to his…

“Byleth.” His voice brought her back to reality.

Sylvain watched her with concern seeing the dazed expression on his wife.

Quickly, she turned away staring back at the computer hiding her raging crimson face at the erotic thoughts of her husband.

This was bad. She was turned on.

“Are you alright? You seem tired.” He asked unaware that he was actually seducing his wife without much effort.

Trying her best to keep her composure and breathing, Byleth closed her mouth and nodded slightly. She did not meet his gaze. She became so distracted with her ears and face burning from her arousal.

When she tilted her head to tell him that she was fine, he was already in front of her. She became too occupied with keeping her cool that she was not able to sense him moving towards her.

Her fears were intensified when he leaned his sinful body forward to let his hand touch her forehead. “Do you have a fever?” He asked and she heated up from his touch.

“No…” She shook her head and he smirked seeing her melt to his touches. Her body became unsteady and her breaths become heavier when he stroked her forehead sliding down to her cheek.

He steadily observed her contemplating that she looked so gorgeous flashing those deep blue eyes with a delectable expression... reserved for him. Sylvain actually could tell upon close observation that she was aroused by the sight of him and he just knew how to push a few buttons to get her to bed with him.

“Oh really?” He said trying not to state the obvious. Using his free hand, he grabs her hand from the desk, forcing her to let go of the computer mouse.

“S-Sylvain… What are y--” She stammered at first but squealed when he guided her hand to his toned abs, allowing her to feel the fruits of his labor on his daily pushup exercises.

“If you want some, just ask.” He winked at her continuing to lower her hand to drift to his trunks.

He expected her to pull away—to deny him of pleasuring her, but she said nothing, tolerating him to guide her hand some more around his body.

He felt a bit apprehended from the lack of response that he tried so hard to evoke from her. He wanted her to react to him more, and he felt encouraged when her hand slightly curls around his lower chest. It appears that she enjoys it too even when his hand was around her wrist limiting on where she can touch.

That was the trigger to the response he wanted and he halted his grip on her hand, teasing her to stop feeling him. He felt accomplished when he heard her softly groan, frustrated that he held her securely limiting her caresses.

“You better ask for it, my wife.” He sniggers, half smiling. His eyes turn dark on the thoughts of her begging him to touch her. He was getting hard from the anticipation.

“N-No.” She retracted her hand and he felt his heart drop disgruntled by her unexpected action.

“Oh?” He said half surprised wanting to elicit another pleasured reaction from her.

“Later.” She turned away knowing that there is no escape from lying to her feelings. This skirt chaser managed to steal the most genuine expressions from her--- Which is worse because she loves him for that and he knows how to make her wild just from his touches alone.

He closes the gap between them and leans to whisper in her ear seductively.

“You don’t want it now?” He said and he could feel her shiver from his breath.

“L-Later!”

She moaned keeping her stance intact determined not to melt into his arms and just let him take her right there. Byleth had no desire of a quickie. If she had done it now, the children might hear them from downstairs. Instead, she wanted to take her time feeling everything about him, appreciating how much she loves him. Sylvain, on the other hand, was contented with anything. He would gladly take her right now if she said so, fulfilling his promise on their wedding day that he would make her happy with anything she pleases.

“Tonight… I haven’t worn the lingerie you gave me last year.” She suggested and his heart quickened imagining her tonight waiting for him by the bed in that intoxicating outfit. He bought it last year during their trip to Brigid, hiding it again from his in-laws and children.

Now, he was the one who was getting flustered and Byleth liked it.

“Okay?” She pleadingly looked at him with _THAT_ look that only he could understand. She was not lying from the way she said it; she was really proposing it for later.

“O-Okay…” He withdrew from her gradually trying to calm his erratic thoughts of her during their love making sessions.

Byleth smiled warmly forgetting that this smile managed to keep him roused wanting more from her.

Sylvain covered his mouth from embarrassment. He used to be good at hiding expressions around people. He can even hold his thirst from long periods of time--- until he fell for his wife and everything fell apart. His desire of her was strong, but the patience of seeing her tonight is more promising, followed by his expectations of her shouts of pleasure and delight calling out his name repeatedly if he decides to wait for it. 

“Now, go take a shower. You’re sweating!” She teased indirectly helping to divert his feelings from taking her right now.

“Yeah..Um… Okay.” He stumbled hitting the edge of the bed making her chuckle in response.

 _“He reminds me of a cute puppy, always following the master.”_ Byleth joked watching him clumsily walk to the bathroom.

With the staggering silence of the room, Byleth felt peaceful again, yet the region in between her thighs getting wetter proved to be a bigger distraction to her work.

He doesn’t know it, but her husband wins this round of teasing.

* * *

Byleth did not remember much what happened before that and she could barely concentrate as his hands travel all over body. All she could remember was a widest grin of her husband during dinner and how he gingerly told her ‘goodnight’ before she went back to the room. Then his smile shifted into something naughtier as he saw her in the room waiting for him in the outfit he desired and the rest was a blur.

The nerve of this man… the other day, she completely angry at him for his inconsiderate behavior and now… she’s melting to his wonderful touches and he loves every second of it.

Before she knew it, she was already trapped between the bed and their passionate kisses as they both struggled to keep it quiet, afraid to wake the children.

Sylvain licked his lips removing himself from the onslaught of kisses to appreciate her outfit. “You look amazing.” He breathed. She kept her promise, showing underneath her clothes that she wore the strappy black lingerie that he bought her during their vacation in Brigid. She remembered when he whispered to her ear slipping the lingerie in her basket and asking her if it fits her well. She did send him a photo from the fitting room to tease him.

“Hmm… I w-was thinking about y--” She wanted to tell him that she liked it, but before she can finish her sentence, she felt him tug her legs and her body easy slid lower on the bed pulling her closer to him.

“Ah…” She squealed from his pull feeling his hands guiding her legs around his waist.

When he grabbed her hand, he smirked noticing the glistened wetness on her fingers.

“You touched yourself.” He said enjoying how much it aroused him and she moaned in response. She was caught by his penetrating gaze knowing that she became frustrated from their previous teases.

He could never imagine that someone would touch herself thinking about him. It was definitely a dream come true that the woman he truly loves was doing this—just because of him. It is truly a fairy tale ending for him and he could feel himself getting harder just on the sight of his wife.

“Hmmm…” She nodded feeling his bulge from her inner thighs and she made a short squeal when his fingers stroke the inside of her panties pushing a digit inside her. The sudden intrusion automatically lets her grab the sheets of the bed.

“Byleth, call my name again, please.” He requests pushing his fingers further causing her to arch her back to his touches. When his wife starts to bucks her hips to his touch, he inserts another finger, curling them inside her.

“Syl…va---Ah!” She made an inaudible scream from the sensation. He took this as an encouragement to use his thumb to massage her clit as his fingers picked up the pace making her writhe to his touches some more. He wanted to tease her and let her beg for him further so he slowed his fingers and she begins to groan whispering out his name.

“Syl—vain… M-More… Please…” She begs looking at him with those wonderful blue eyes asking him to push her to the edge. That was all he needed-- and he does so, adding in a third finger. She covers her mouth as she muffled her screams from the additional sensation. All the years together helped him memorize his way around his wife just by his touches alone, it felt so amazing and Byleth admitted this no matter how annoyed and angry she feels about him.

“You like that, Byleth?” Sylvain growled at the sight of his wife’s flushed red face and rapid breaths. She was completely at his mercy. He was so turned on just by her warm smile and now her pleasured and cute expressions during their private moments manage to drive him wild.

“Hmmm… Yes…” She could not concentrate replying to him properly due to his fingers pumping in and out from her core.

Sylvain leans closer to her face. He wanted to see her reaction to his playful words. _“After this…I’ll cum inside of you, for the whole night, again and again.”_ He whispered hoping to get a better reaction from her and he was rewarded when she moaned to his words.

He felt so contented that the once emotionless professor of his fell into his amorous touches and married him. There was a deep fondness of how she calls for him and all the more when she asks him to make love to her. He would never get tired of that as he felt her juices soaking and the sounds of his rough fingers moving inside her encouraged him to move even faster making her shiver in ecstasy.

“Cum for me, Byleth.” He said it so sweetly. It was more of a request than a command and Byleth felt that she about to burst with the combination of his affectionate voice and the way he moves his fingers inside her.

When the fingers inside her vigorously switched their movement to scissor her open, she finally came with a loud grunt covering her mouth to keep her voices inside the room.

Byleth stayed breathless and motionless trying to calm her breathing after an intense orgasm. Sylvain watched her for a handful of seconds waiting for her to relax.

“Did I hurt you?” Sylvain asked a bit concerned while wiping the sweat from her forehead.

His sweet touches comforted her. She knew that he wanted her to enjoy this intimacy with him, together as husband and wife.

“No, it was…” She breathed giving her warmest smile. “Really amazing…”

Feeling relief that she had calmed down, he pulled his fingers out and she hitched her breath feeling her juices flowing out of her, leaking on her thighs and dripping on the bed as it left a trail on his fingers as well.

“Hmmm…” She softly whimpers as his fingers left her and the feeling of emptiness made her quite unhappy.

He liked her faint response giving her a show and taking his fingers to his mouth.

“Taste good.” he smirked licking away her juices provoking her to call him once more.

“S-Sylvain…” She called out to him and reaching her hand to hold him.

“Yes, my wife?” He grabbed her hand sensing the wedding ring on her finger.

“It’s not fair… take off your shirt, let me see you…bare…” She said earnestly wanting him.

He adored this side of her. She was only like this during their intimate moments. Pleased to make her go wild tonight, he pulled off his shirt showing off his bare chest and he takes her hand guiding gradually trailing it from his neck down to his chest.

“We had done this so many times, but I’ll always remind you of all the things you make me feel…” He moans seeing her eyes clouded with lust deeply enthralled by him. “How much I love you…” He slowed his movement to trace her hand around his abs. “How much I want you…”

“Sylvain!” She gasps when he led her hand down to his erection. She felt him buck lightly to her hand and she kneaded it to excite him more. Her touches were not enough to satisfy him and he immediately pulled off his bottoms tossing it to the side of the bed.

Now completely stripped in front of her, he leans to her ear, pulling away her underwear.

“Good… Then you are ready to take me?” He chuckled, quickly positioning her body to his hard erection.

“Yes.” She said with no hesitation in her eyes telling him that she was ready for him.

Just the sight of her eyes longing for him--- for his touches, for his presence, made him shudder in pleasure.

Taking the box from the side desk, he tears off the condom packet and places it properly in his erect cock. He gazes at his wife watching him carefully; patiently waiting for him, and the anticipation for him excited her once more. Of course, they also want to be careful during this whole lockdown.

“Byleth…” He lovingly murmured her name closing in the space between them.

He finds his lips on hers again letting his tongue dance passionately with hers in their rough kisses. He heard her squeal in their deep kisses when his tip enters her.

“Oh!” She leans back breaking their kiss feeling the sensation of his cock pleasuring her. He picks up the pace, pushing in further until it fully enters her.

“So good…” He breathes. He grabs his wife’s arms pulling her into a warm embrace allowing her to wrap her arms around his neck. The new position changed the angle of him inside her and she faintly made a small sound.

“You also make me…” She paused as he thrusts into her. “Feel…so good…” She scrunched her fist placing it on her mouth to stiffen her gasps as he moved inside her and pulled out in repeating motions. When he heard small sounds coming from her, he smirked hearing her soothing cries by his ear. His wife was greatly enjoying this moment and he burned to feel the same so he started pushing in rougher and faster getting the satisfying sensation from her.

“Ah!” She instantly shrieked and her arms and legs pulled him closer to her chest. He was slamming hard into her, stretching her delectably with his member.

In the heat of their passion, Sylvain finds her lips again moaning with her. He felt the heat of their bodies pressed to each other and it invigorated him more continuing to angle his movements, plunging her into her limits. It was a terrible struggle keeping their voices to a minimum ever since the children came aboard. Maia did used to sleep with them in their small apartment until Byleth had enough and taught her eldest daughter how to be more independent. Sylvain was distraught at first until his wife gave him the most unforgettable expression of wanting “to bed with him”. 

‘Oh yes, those were the exact words she said.’ Sylvain thought as her voice echoed in his mind. He never expected his wife to be so needy for him even when he admitted that he himself was needier than her. He could only keep this small memory of her this afternoon watching him hungrily as he changed. Now, she actually wore the lingerie just thinking about him and here she is moaning, panting and gasping his name.

Byleth slightly tilted her head after their kiss. “Sylvain…I’m close…” She said in ragged breaths as she felt the burning sensation inside her. He groaned as felt her walls clamping around him. He thrusts himself deeper into her and rode her as hard as he could.

Byleth came hard burying her face between her husband’s neck and shoulders to restrict her loud screams. He followed after a few thrusts, and she gave a small grunt when she felt him pull away the condom and throwing it in the trash.

Sylvain giggled from the slight whine she emitted and kissed her forehead. “I don’t want you getting _pregante_.” He joked saying the word wrong and in response and she gave him a short peck on his lips.

“It’s not that…” She gave him a smile with a blush visible on her cheeks. She appreciated looking at his delicious sweaty body her always gazing at her with those loving eyes even before they got married.

“Please hug me longer…” She opened her arms expressing the need to cuddle.

“Oh…” He said softly admiring her tender touches and her neediness for him.

“Let me help you.” He took her into his arms resting her into his lap. She was still recovering her breaths after a wild session with him, but she felt his warmth as she snuggled on his neck sensing his arms wrap around her.

“Hmm…” She relaxed comfortingly on his chest.

“And you said I was the clingy one?” Sylvain teased and she relaxed her arms to stare at him.

“It’s mostly your fault.” She frowned.

“My fault?” His eyes widen shocked from her comment.

“Yes and I hate it. When you always grab my hips to pull me into your lap, when you tighten your arms around my body when we watch a show, when we walk in public and you put your arm around my shoulder, when I cook or do the laundry you would always stay by side and kiss me continuously until I tell you to stop…” She listed all the things that he had done with her.

“Ouch, that hurt…” Sylvain simply pouted. “If you want me to stop, just tell me.” He said miserably ready to accept her demands.

“I did the other day. Remember?”

“Oh right…” He said glumly noting her words and she leaned her forehead with his.

Then her face fell into deep guilt and regret. “I told you to stop and for those three agonizing days. I missed you… your hugs, your soft kisses, your beaming smiles…”

She closed her eyes feeling him so close to her. She could listen to his breathing, becoming more jumbled from their close proximity. She could tell that he was controlling himself from touching her.

Taking both hands, Byleth stroked his cheeks and placing a peck to his nose. “I was so used to you that I forgot how much you loved to shower me with affections.”

“And I—Ah!” She felt him harden from below her, causing her to be aroused as well.

He gently pushed her on the bed. “Continue… please…” He said smiling at her and she weakly nodded as her wet folds ached for him.

“You were there when I cried—It felt so lonely without you---” She paused seeing him adjust another condom on his hardened erection and she softly moaned thrilled that her words just seem to make his cock twitch for her.

“Continue…” He urged her.

“And--- I regretted telling you to get out of the room… I’m sorry…” She apologized again and he affectionately brushed a strand of her hair with his hands unclasping her bra freeing her from her top. Once the top was removed, he caressed her breasts grasping them with his hands and fingers in between gentle and tough touches.

“Why Sorry? You needed some time for yourself… Besides, I want something else… a much better wording from you…” Sylvain teased her giving a few chuckles.

She took a deep breath when he pinched her hardened nipples causing her to gasp from the sensation.

“I-I love y-you terribly and uncontrollably, S-Sylvain.” She mumbled saying it so fondly deliberating what kind of motivation made her resolute to say this to him, but she was lost from his wayward touches.

He brought his mouth to her neck kissing it. “I love you, Byleth. I want all of you forever. On repeat, every day. I don’t care how many times we make mistakes or how much we fight--- I’m doing my best to make you happy each day.” He repeated a line from a romance movie they watched last month, adding another list of vocabulary to his flowery language for her. Byleth could easily tell it was _THAT movie_ which caused her husband to be a bumbling mess, crying from the experiences of the main character.

She sighed from his words. She expected him to say a line from that movie to her sooner or later.

“Come on Byleth! I was serious.” He said grinning. He knew that she didn’t like it, but was curious on what response she would give off from that line.

“Say something else… with a much better wording…” She repeated his line previously and he laughed bringing his face to stare at her once more.

“I love you, Byleth. That’s all I want to say.” He kissed her tenderly and without preparation entered her soaking wet core.

“Hmmm…” She inaudibly was about to say something but his loving and fervent kisses subdued the sounds coming from her mouth. She felt him enter her and soon, her thoughts drifted as she concentrated on his rough thrusts.

* * *

Byleth remembered coming again for another time seeing her reflection on the mirror. She leaned her back on his chest as he held her legs wide open exposing her to the mirror.

She felt so overstimulated from the repeated pleasures from her husband and she closed her eyes counting how many times she fell into deep bliss because of this man, though she couldn't completely concentrate as she felt a gush of juices dripping down her thighs.

Sylvain lifted her chin to adjust her gaze on herself in the mirror. “Byleth, you promised to watch yourself while I take you.” 

Byleth opened her eyes as it lingered in front of the mirror just by the dresser. She was embarrassed seeing her red flustered face, erect nipples, and wet core aching, soaking, clearly anticipating for him as she sat securely on his lap. Sylvain expressed that he had many needs and this was one of his favorites. When she married him, she had done so many _things with him_ , but when it went a little more adventurous, she would refuse at first. Then she would be a bumbling mess seeing how much dedicated he was for her and the children. The way he smiled at her, the way he ironed her clothes, fixed the home, cleaned the toilets, carried their children so affectionately and full of love... She listed so many moments where she fell for him so many times. She didn't have the energy or power to refuse anymore, it was her fate after all. She loves this man and happily delighted in him.

"Hmmm that's better." He smiled when he met her gaze in the mirror. He hummed when she made a muttered a small faint sound on the sight of her husband putting on a new condom ready to take her all over again.

Readjusting himself, he pulled her back on his chest closing the gap between them and stretching her legs wider to accommodate him.

"Ready for another round?" Sylvain kissed her shoulder and instantly slammed into her hard as pleasure spent his whole body, the burning sensation rushing back to him. He felt her walls tightening and clenching to his cock as he pushed her deeper into her limits. The strong sensation forced his wife to grab hold of the sheets of the bed and he felt so good that the love of his life was a moaning mess submitting to his longings and desires.

“It’s a perfect fit.” He whispered to her ear and she mewled in response keeping her eyes open fulfilling her promise to him by maintaining her gaze on the mirror. Byleth was watching him roughly entering in and out of her.The sight was so erotic observing her husband adjusting his hips as his cock shoved inside her and she jerked from the swift intrusion arching her back. He quietly said her name again and _again_ seeing her so vulnerable in front of him, her eyes were half lidded, her mouth stammering trying to say his name repeatedly, her body reacting to his hard thrusts as he continued to ravage her body. Finally, he got the reaction he was looking for as he felt her squirm when he pushed in a place where she wanted.

He lustfully observed his wife from the mirror submissively melting to his powerful thrusts. His eyes caught sight of her nervously fumbling her breasts taking a nipple in her fingers and squeezing it, she clearly desired more stimulation.

“Look at you Byleth…” His thoughts went wild on the sight of her fondling her breasts in line with his thrusts. It encouraged him to move into her faster and he smirked as she bounced on his cock.

“Those beautiful eyes… The way you take me my cock and touch yourself. You’re the perfect woman for me…” He inhaled her scent appreciating her presence feeling her juices leak on his thighs. It was a definitely a sight to behold.

The moment she threw her head back on his shoulder, he bit the side of her neck leaving a mark.

“Sylvain!” She gave a loud squeal observing the larger marks on her neck and shoulders visible from the mirror. He planted them all in a span of a few rounds secretly eager to see them tomorrow since it would be just the two for a while (He was already making up an excuse for the children that their mommy had a bad allergy). Nevertheless, he persisted lapping his tongue around her marks adding new ones in the process.

Byleth was hesitant at first thinking how awkward it would be if her students would see those love bites on her neck, but then again… she can easily cover them up with the camera features in the chat room and her husband had a lot of jackets to accommodate covering her small frame. 

“S-Sylvain… I’m so close…” She recollected her thoughts feeling another orgasm rushing from her and moved her hips trying to match with his thrusts. Whispering his name over and over, she wraps her arms behind his neck holding him to keep her balance from his uncontrollable jerks. His thrusts hit her in all the right spots and she labored her breath minimizing her guttural screams.

Sylvain couldn't think straight hearing more _sweet_ words from her. His mind was in a haze only thinking about wife in front of him going to come for a another time _because of him_.

"Hmmm... I love you so much..." He mumbled and he raised her legs higher angling a new sensation from her and she vehemently moaned as he continued sinking his cock inside her, hitting all the spots she loved.

"I-I love y-you..." She repeated to him over and _over_ feeling herself closer to her release. She held him tighter seeing her reflection in the mirror. It was so obscene watching his cock sink assiduously inside her in rapid motions.

At long last, her orgasm rushed over her and she quickly clasped her mouth from the inescapable cries. He followed her after a few more thrusts, clenching his eyes and leaning on her back muffling the pleasured sounds from his mouth. They were both keeping their sounds low and discreet and they managed to practice this several times in different intervals. Fortunately, the children don’t even seem to be bothered at night so that means they have been practicing quite well.

As they recover from their pleasured screams, he pulls out of her and shoots the filled condom in the trash.

Taking his wife, he thoughtfully laid her back on the bed, covering a blanket over her. When he saw her recline on the bed, he quickly plopped himself beside her and she felt the bed move from the sudden movement.

Moving closer to him, she attentively pressed her head on his chest snuggling to him and he rubbed her back as they recover their breathing. The cuddles were a small habit of her after another lovemaking session and he delighted in it, liking her warm body scrunched up closer to him.

“One more time?” He joked indirectly telling her of his undeterred stamina. Byleth bet that his extra energy was passed down to his active children.

“What are my choices this time?” She poked his nose and he laughed from her touch.

“Sleep or Sylvain?” He asked.

“It doesn’t even rhyme!” She snorted laughing at his choices.

“Alright, Alright, you win. Sleep then.” He said defeated wanting to have enough sleep tonight.

“But I chose Sylvain.” She said and he stopped, trying to comprehend her answer.

“Y-You mean---” He stuttered. Her answer was unexpected.

“I chose my husband.” She pulled him for another kiss.

This time, Sylvain couldn't resist his wife. He only mentally took note that he better change the bed sheets tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Byleth couldn't remember much from that night. She could only remember the feeling of her husband’s lips as she lost count of how many times he made her come that night.

* * *

“Hmmm…”

She twists in bed but felt the something was missing, wondering why it felt emptier.

She slowly opened her eyes and checks that her husband had left her in the bed. She felt a bit disappointed without his presence. She liked it when she waked up next to him. His blissful eyes watching her wake from her sleep definitely made her day happier, but her husband was not perfect. He had insecurities from his past and he conveyed his feelings about it to her several times. It almost made her cry when he told her that he would cry helplessly because of his overwhelming feelings telling him that he did not deserve her. He did not want to start the day making her depressed with his cries.

Although despite that, he slowly healed his wounds and sometimes she would be rewarded with his morning kisses.

Sitting up from the bed, she easily spots him busy using the laptop.

Suspicious on what he is doing, she sneaks up behind him and takes one of his shirts on the floor to put it on her for the meantime. 

There were times that she worries that he might cheat on her knowing that he infamously used to break so many women’s hearts in the past. She tried everything in the book to keep his focus on her, it was tiring to see him become so clingy due to her constant attention on him. She admits that she felt jealous at times when he talks to other women, but she knows that he trusts her and she does the same.

When she glimpses on the laptop, she sees him checking the photos of her children in formal wear. The pictures of Felix and Annette’s wedding were finally published from the couple.

Selene’s long hair was dotingly braided by Marianne, who insisted that she took the effort to fix the girl’s hair before the wedding. She also fixed Maia’s hair in a bun and it was lastly decorated by a cute flower pin that Ingrid bought for her. The girl’s wore matching gowns that flowed just below their knees due to Annette’s request wanting the girls to run around and enjoy the reception after the ceremony. Beside the two girls in the picture, are Symon and Mikhail. They wore matching suits but their bow ties differ in color. Symon wore a red one and Mikhail wore a black bow tie.

When Sylvain saw a picture of him and Byleth, she heard him preoccupied in thought and he zoomed in their photo. “I think I cried a lot that day…” He murmured snorting at the photo that showed him shedding a few tears and Byleth wiping his face in the photo.

“But you look great…” Byleth said forgetting that she was sneaking up on him and she jerked backwards.

“Oh Byleth…” He turned his head at her. He was not bothered by her sneaking up at him. He knew her doubts on him and he wanted to build up their trust. She did express her doubts many times during their marriage just to tell him how she felt. He patiently listened to her knowing that his wife was not perfect and they needed that talk to move forward in their marriage.

“You’re not surprised?” She nervously smiled and he shook his head.

“No…I was waiting for you.” Then he pulled out another stool. “Want to look at the wedding photos together? Felix tagged me a few days ago. I never had the time to check them.”

Byleth leisurely sat down next to him and he clicked the mouse to see the next photo. It was a photo of the six of them as a family in the reception of the wedding. Selene stayed by her side as she carried Symon in her arms while Maia stayed by her father’s side while he carried Mikhail.

The next picture featured Felix waiting at the aisle for his bride and Sylvain standing next to him. Byleth saw the wide smile of her husband in the picture patting the shoulders of the groom, who had a deep red blush on his face.

“Felix was really nervous, but he couldn’t express it in words.” Sylvain laughed humorously reminiscing on how much Felix panicked expressing to him his desire to punch him during the wedding (but he didn’t). When Sylvain clicked next on the screen, a picture of Felix and Annette was shown almost at the end of the wedding reception, but most of the attention was on the ‘Gautier couple’ kissing in the background.

“Oh no…” Byleth gasped at the screen. “I-I thought you said no one would see us?” She huffed at him and Sylvain gave a long sigh frowning and embarrassed at the picture.

“This is Felix’s revenge…” Sylvain said clenching his fist surprised that Felix found out about their short tryst.

“What revenge?” Byleth lowered her eyes on her husband.

“Felix…” Sylvain grimaced. “I gave a speech on his bachelor’s party… talking about our time when we were roommates, how I discovered about his relationship with Annette and he’s concern for Dimitri to find a girlfriend first…”

“Basically you spilled out all his secrets…So, the only way to get equal with you, he sent you this.” Byleth winced contemplating again on why she married Sylvain.

“No worries, my wife. I’ll get him back!” Sylvain grinned clenching his fist again displaying his determination.

“Here we go again…” Byleth face palmed at her husband’s comment. There might be trouble brewing again after this. Recalling that one time, Felix almost fought with Sylvain deliberately thinking that he cheated on her with her mother, Sitri.

“But at the very least, our children were so wonderful during the wedding! Even when Felix and Annette fell in the wedding cake, our children ran and swooshed themselves in the mess too!” Sylvain gazed on the next picture of the bridge and groom laughing along the children.

Sylvain made a sad expression regretting not seeing the cute sight of his children wiping the icing on Annette and Felix. “We didn’t see it because we were too busy at the background… you know… making out while we left the children with Marianne and Dimitri.”

“It was because you got bored after eating and wanted a little entertainment for yourself.”

“But you agreed on it too!” He iterated defending himself and she paused for a few seconds.

Why must he remind her that she agreed to his whims as well?

“I-I went with you since many of the guests were still eating and chatting… a-and you were the host of the event… s-sooo…” Byleth stumbled on her words flustered that she remembered the way he styled a part of his bangs behind, charming her that day. She was unable to resist him in a nice suit asking her to have a little fun. 

“You see? It was only around 10 minutes--- I swear! I timed it!” He defended himself and she scoffed at him.

“20 minutes.” She corrected him.

“Alright! Alright! 20… just 20 minutes!”

“Tell me again, why we did that?” She asked imperceptibly.

“Well...You absolutely looked astonishing in that light blue dress! I was mesmerized by my wife’s beauty!” He said it so passionately that Byleth felt touched with his words.

All of a sudden, she felt hot again just from the smiles and teases from her husband. “I’m tired…” She said trying to shake that feeling off and she stood up from the seat. He watches her stand and he saw the trail of her juices drip down her thighs onto the stool.

She got excited by his flowery words again and he was loving it.

“Oh…” He mischievously smiles and closes the laptop.

“Maybe we should take a bath?” He suggested grabbing her hand preventing her from moving away.

“Take a bath or do something naughty?” She narrowed her eyes at him but the blush was still evident on her face. Standing up, he pulls her hand, causing her to fall into his arms.

“Both.” He said instantly picking her up and letting her wrap her legs around his waist.

“It would be nice, but I am afraid that I might not walk for the whole day.” She holds on to his neck a bit apprehended thinking about leaving Sylvain with the children all day again as her legs gave out from the intense lovemaking sessions with her husband.

“Oh sorry. I’ll be gentle then.” He kissed her cheek supporting her weight as he carried her.

“I also like it if you take me rough…” She confessed shyly feeling the ache for him again.

“Hmmm… my wife’s needy in the morning. I like it.”

“That’s why it’s a dilemma for me every time we do _this_. I have difficulty running around the house with our children and I won’t be able to spend time with them due to your insistent whims...”

“Hey, don’t worry about it!" He winked at her. "I know the perfect game that doesn’t require you to stand.” He kissed her and she knew that this is one of his crazy ideas again.

Needless to say, he brought her straight to the bathroom for another round.

* * *

_“Alright, my valiant knights! Save the queen and slay the dragon for me! I shall reward you with treats and candies, and also… GOLD!”_

Sylvain was wearing a paper crown made by the children and he shook the plastic full of different candies inside to give a signal for them to charge to the “dragon”.

Mikhail and Selene nodded and raised their hands in the air. “For the Kingdom!”

Maia and Symon were at the other side of the living room holding their mother as a “prisoner” since she is the queen trapped in the tower. Both children represented the side of a villain: Maia wore a blue lion hoodie (but she pretended to be a dragon anyway) and Symon wore a green dragon hoodie.

Byleth sat in the chair patiently waiting for her heroes. The children (and especially her husband) forced her to wear the formal dress that she wore during Felix and Annette’s wedding just to boost their morale in their role play.

“Oh noooo…” Byleth said waving her hand in the air, trying to pretend that she was in danger. Maia then took her jump rope and tied it on her mother so that she _won’t escape_. Byleth actually couldn’t escape, still sore after all the things she had done with her husband that morning.

“Green dragon, don’t let the knights pass by the bridge!” Maia screamed commanding her younger brother, Symon.

Symon sniggered when his two siblings approached and he cleverly threw a large blanket on his siblings that blinded them, forcing them to fall on the ground.

“You’ll never defeat the dragons! The queen is ours to eat!” Symon laughed as the two _knights_ struggled removing the blanket off their faces.

“Hah!” Maia threw some pillows on her two siblings playing the knights. Some of them missed giving Selene the opportunity to stand up on her feet and ran towards Symon.

Holding the stick in her hands (pretending it to be a sword), Selene swung it to her brother who caught the stick in his hands restricting her movement.

“You’ll never defeat me! The other dragon is cooking mom---I mean, the queen right now!” Symon repeated some lines from the children’s show he watched the other day, but failed to remember that his mother was now the queen in their little game.

However, Symon failed to notice Mikhail pulling his shirt and the hoodie went off from the force of Mikhail’s grip.

“Woah!” Symon slipped to the floor dragging Mikhail with him and luckily they fell on a pillow.

“Got you!” Mikhail giggled gripping the hoodie in his hands and Symon struggled to stand up.

“Blue dragon! The knights have taken over the bridge!” Symon yelled to his older sister who gasped and threw more pillows towards Selene.

“It’s too late! The queen is almost turning into soup! In a matter of seconds, she will become our dinner! Mwahahahaha!” Maia laughed imitating the villainess in those princess movies that she watched together with Symon.

“GO SELENE! MIKHAIL! GET THE QUEEN!” Sylvain shouted on the opposite side cheering for his loyal knights. He was fixing his royal cloak which was just a large red blanket draped on his back.

“For the king!” Selene helped up Mikhail and the young toddler ran back to his father to take another stick.

“Here you go.” Sylvain smiled and handed Mikhail a stick. The boy cutely gave him a salute and ran back to his sister to help her fight the dragon.

Maia went closer to her mother. “You are now soup mommy! Pretend to be melting!”

Byleth exhaled still playing their little game. “Oh no… I’m turning into soup…”

“Selene! Mikhail! My queen… She’s melting!!!” Sylvain pretended to cry making loud noises of whimpering and he kneeled on the floor showing his dread that the knights were losing.

“Don’t worry my king!” Selene charged to Symon again who defended himself with the stick.

Mikhail dashed forward towards his oldest sister and Maia snorted seeing her youngest sibling determined to defeat him perceiving how much taller she was than him. She could easily overpower him!

“Haaaaaaa!” Mikhail screamed running towards her. He was waving the stick in the air ready to charge to the blue dragon.

“Hmph, my poor knight… You know you---” Maia never expected herself to lose as she unintentionally tripped on a pillow. She falls on the floor and watched in horror that Mikhail reached his mother pulling away the jump ropes on the chair.

“Nooooooo my dinner!” Maia shouted trying to reach Mikhail’s leg, but the boy was already in his mother’s lap hugging her.

“Good job, Mikhail!” Selene shouted still fighting sticks with Symon.

“We saved the queen!” Sylvain walked towards them, raising his hands in the air.

“Now, I will marry mommy!” Mikhail sat on his mother’s lap, hugging her, but immediately was carried aside by Sylvain who gave him the plastic of candy to distract the boy from his mother. The other siblings hovered over to Mikhail to distribute the large sum of candy. They were too excited about the candies and they forgot about the role play game they were playing.

“Thanks from my valiant knights, the king has saved you, my queen!” Sylvain bowed to Byleth, who sighed feeling insignificantly drained from him carrying her all day.

“You didn’t do anything to save me.” She said monotonously, but somehow despite her exhaustion. She was entertained with his costume and stance. He had two paper crowns on his head, wore a red blanket around him, and he was kneeling in front of her, almost like a _sincere knight_ in a fairytale.

“Yes, I did. I rewarded my knights just to save you!” Sylvain placed a hand on his heart using his other hand to gently hold her hand and he smiles even more when he feels the wedding ring in her finger.

Byleth heaved a sigh in defeat watching him favorably massaging the wedding ring worn in her hand. This is her fate after all, she chose this for herself and that she had _amazing_ sex with her husband causing her to have problems walking for some time and letting him use this game as an excuse so he can carry her around the house putting her body close to him all day. It was almost like a reward for her missing him greatly for the past few days.

“Okay my king, come here and get your kiss.”

This was another bonus from him and Sylvain made no hesitation to smooch his wife’s lips. The sound of their short kiss made their children suddenly quiet.

Both husband and wife then took notice of their children glaring at them nosily but also munching on the candies.

“The queen is rewarding me with a true love’s kiss!” Sylvain beamed innocently taking out another paper crown from his head and placing it on his wife’s head.

Byleth gave a small smile chucking a bit that they now have matching crowns on their head. Sylvain saw her smile and he stroked her hair gently moving some strands to the back of her hair.

“Now we are both rulers of the _United Kingdom of Fodlan_.” He lowered his voice staring at his wife lovingly. His eyes were so endearing that Byleth could not resist asking him for another kiss.

“Give me one more kiss to celebrate my return to _our_ kingdom?” She adjusted the crown on her head since it slightly tilted when she leaned closer to her husband.

Sylvain gleamed heartily smitten with his wife’s gaze and request. “For my one and only queen, the ruler of all Fodlan and my whole heart.”

They quickly kissed again and the children watched them in disgust.

“Ewww!!! Gross!!!” The children yelled altogether dismissing it as only the adults can understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is not part of the storyline and my brain is giving me so many new chapter ideas like:  
> \- Felix and Annette's (disastrous) wedding.  
> \- Maia and the family visits Enbarr to see Ferdinand Jr.'s family (Von Aegir). Freddy now has a baby sister and a new pony.  
> \- Sylvain's parents inviting the family to have summer vacation in Northern Faerghus (angst but heartwarming ending).  
> \- Sylvain and Byleth's 5th child turned out to be twins and so now they have 6 children...(Sylvain's too powerful...)  
> \- Maia going to university in Almyra and Sylvain crying that his little girl grown up so fast. After a few years, Selene deciding to study in Garreg Mach University. She doesn't want to see her daddy cry so she wanted to give up her dream to study abroad, but Sylvain and Byleth convinced her not to worry about leaving her parents behind if she wanted to study in Sreng. 
> 
> The prequel will be posted hopefully by the end of the month *crosses fingers*


	13. Happy Birthday Sylvain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sylvain celebrates his birthday with the people he cares about the most. This takes place a year before the time-skip in chapter 10.

As he stirred in his sleep, Sylvain felt a fluttering kiss to his cheek, a soft and warm kiss that made him feel all tingly inside due to the endearing sensation from last night.

“Hmm…?”

He opened his eyes to his beautiful wife. She was already out in bed and wearing a gorgeous long dress that accentuated her physical appearance. The teal colors of the dress made him blush in a deep fluster to see a stunning goddess as he woke from his sleep. Even the windows shined against her making her more alluring with that warm face and unfathomable blue eyes staring at him full of love.

“Good morning, love.” Byleth kissed him again and silently giggled when his face turned so red just as he managed to adjust his eyes to the morning rays.

“G-Good Morning.” He stammered from the kiss. It was unusual for her to wake so early. He was always the one up and about every morning, waking up the kids, cooking breakfast, and waking up his wife soon after.

“Happy Birthday, Sylvain.” Byleth smiled and pecked his lips.

**Ah.**

Now he remembered. The reason why she wore a wonderful dress today is to celebrate his birthday. Every year on the day of his birthday, she would take a day or two off for him to coddle him as a reminder for all the tiresome work he has at home (although Sylvain argues that he finds happiness in doing the daily chores and caring for the kids).

All this happiness recalling the intimate moments with his wife made him burst from elation. The beating sensation soon returned again and his heart started to beat faster from the overwhelming feeling of being so loved and pampered by his wife’s sweetest kisses. Truly, his mind drifted off to telling him how much he doesn’t deserve it and he starts to cry from it. His insecurities creeping back to his line of thoughts and he whimpered, sobbing from the pain and trauma.

 _How could anyone love a good-for-nothing like me?_ He said to himself and he wiped his eyes, but the tears strained down his cheeks and Byleth lovingly wiped them away.

“I love you.” She said grabbing a tissue from the side desk and comforts his eyes (and heart) with a gentle wipe.

Her words of relief were enough to ease his breakdown. Sylvain could vividly recall her repeating to him how much she loves him.

“I love you, I love you, I love you…” He whispered as a reply.

When he finally calmed down, she spoke softly. “Take a good rest, my love. I’ll cook breakfast for today.” She gave him another kiss to which he loves so much. It was always him initiating kisses and he chuckled that Byleth would get too fed up sometimes from the onslaught of his small pecks and later rough and deep intense kisses at different intervals and degrees.

She was about to leave the bed when he immediately grabbed her hand.

“Um… Ah…Well…” Sylvain barely could mutter a word from his ruffled expression since he just woke up.

“Yes, my love?” She replied a bit taken aback from his sudden grip.

“Can we cuddle for a short while?” He didn’t look at her as he was calming his breathing. Waking up to the ‘perfect woman’ was never meant to come true until he met her. He was really in the mood to savor his time with her today.

“The children will get hungry.” Byleth made a cute pout and he laughed that their children are growing more and more each passing day.

“True. True.” He nodded admitting the truth. There was a time when Symon cried after his first class in primary school, he told his dad that he was so hungry that Sylvain felt the boy’s agony in staying all day in his lessons. They went to eat in the University Café and Symon finished a whole plate of pasta and mashed potatoes to all his siblings’ shock (Byleth found out about it later and gave her husband extra money for the groceries). Ever since then, Sylvain was more meticulous in cooking a little more extra for his growing children.

“Alright?” Byleth said smiling and tilting her head slightly to get his response.

Sylvain grumbled from her, but he still held on her hand.

“It’s my birthday… 5 minutes more?” He pleaded following the same pout as her and she couldn’t resist his innocent request.

“5 minutes.” She agreed moving onto the bed to join him, but instantly he pulled her closer to him and she plopped down the bed with him with a short squeal.

“Sylvain!” Byleth giggled loudly as she fell back into the bed crashing on the soft mattress with him moving on top of her. In the moment, she meets his lips kissing him gently and gradually he tilts his head to give more angled kisses, getting more profound and bold.

“Hmmm…” Byleth moaned from another kiss allowing Sylvain to move his tongue inside her lips, tasting her and making her squirm from the tenderness and affection so early in the morning. It was a delight to have her with him for the whole day in a beautiful dress and a loving smile. He wished that she could just stay with him longer during the day, but on second thought, Byleth might get tired of his clinginess which he didn’t mind at all. He still held on to the belief that the more they are away from each other, the more they yearn for each other afterwards. It’s funny, although it was true in their case.

Breaking the kiss, he chuckled from her reddish face clearly enjoying their short tryst. He started to tease her with pampering tiny kisses around her face and trailing it down to her neck. The kisses were short, fervent, and quick, making her tingle in reaction. It was similar to the way he tickled the children in their play and accompanied by him teasingly blowing on to her skin which made her laugh all the more.

“Sylvain, it tickles!” She puffed her breaths from the continued kisses laughing in response.

From her actions, Sylvain could only laugh along until his stream of thoughts lingered to something more… adventurous. He paused from his kisses and touched her cheek smoothly caressing it in attempt to see her response--- and it did affect her, as she stopped her giggles to watch him closely.

“Sing happy birthday, while I take you?” He suggested and her face turned almost like a tomato from his invitation of another quickie.

“S-Sylvain…W-What…I-I can’t…” She said breathless as he constantly smiled back to her. Byleth thinks he’s crazy from his request. She always tries her best to stay silent during their affairs in the bedroom and her fears of a loud noise would disturb their children.

“Ha~ I’m joking! Just the look on your face is enough.” He smirked and he was about to move away until he felt her lips again, kissing him deeply.

“I can’t sing… but it’s your birthday and…” She broke away from him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Byleth… you…really…” Sylvain meant his silly request as a joke although here he is--- with his wife blushing and her hair ruffled from his kisses just moments ago watching him with those precious eyes longing for him.

“H-Happy birthday.” She whispered by his ear and all this pent up tension was released. He quickly hiked her legs by his waist and her dress hitched higher by her waist exposing her underwear underneath. Expertly, he pulls it away from her tossing it by the side and she gasped when he inched closer to her, giving her another passionate kiss.

“You’re wet.” He huskily lowered his voice feeling her folds dampened just by his short kisses. Byleth manages to get the best from him and he could see her cute expressions moaning from his touches. He could tell she was ready for him right now and speedily made a quick do of his shorts, tossing to alongside her underwear.

“Ready?” He asked her if she was alright with him and she nodded gazing at him fondly.

“Yes.” She manages to mutter a response and he positions himself to her.

“Oh…” She whimpered as he moved his hips entering her slick folds carefully. He wants her to feel every part of him inside. So he moves--- unhurriedly, teasingly, gently… and her breaths become a mess. Finally, he was fully inside of her and he brushes the sweat from his wife’s forehead.

“You alright?” He asked and she could only nod. Approvingly from her sighs of pleasure, he starts to move in a rhythm allowing her to whine and mewl as it resonated around the room. He loved every second of it.

“Sylvain... Hmmm…” Byleth tried her best to speak, but was too much caught in the pleasure. She leaned her head on his shoulder and began to move her hips in line with his rough thrusts. She was heightened from the sensation of him clenching her core and stirring her insides from his rapid movements.

The moment was too short for the both of them, although they came undone and sighed from their release. It was followed by more happy morning kisses of affection.

“Do you think we can have another baby?” He asked kissing her for another time.

“I hope so.” She smiled brushing away the bangs from her husband's hair, it was a mess due to their swift tryst.

They were trying for another one, much to the glee of her husband, who enthusiastically demonstrated his time management skills when she was hesitant in their conversation about more children. Byleth took a moment pondering about it until she came to a conclusion that she also did want a big family. She was financially stable thanks to her job and Sylvain recently won a new family van from the supermarket lottery.

Byleth could remember his exact words coming home with a large van and the children shouting in excitement and joy from riding the new vehicle. “Those collected stickers were worth it!” He said overwhelmingly jubilant when he pulled the 3rd place win. It was an ordinary day in the supermarket and this all happened. From his previous car, that he used to love so much, it was a big contrast since he paid less attention on the car and his children were the ones too responsible in caring for the van.

It was mildly frustrating because her father, Jeralt made a suggestion to her getting a driver’s license in case of an emergency. Sylvain was ever so patient guiding her how to drive and eventually she got her license after a few professional lessons from driving school. It was another adjustment although they still make use of the convenient public transport from time to time.

Thinking back on it now, she treasured these small memories with her family.

“At least we have a car now.” She laughed moving out of the bed. Sylvain also laughed with her joking her how lucky she is to marry him which is hilarious because he was always so doubtful of himself.

“Take a rest then. I’ll just make some breakfast.” She kissed his nose and he nodded. It was his turn to rest from all his arduous work in the morning.

“Oh, but I have to take a bath first.” She said pointing out to their previous activities and Sylvain’s face went all red again from recalling it.

Byleth found his facial expressions really adorable.

…

“It’s so funny! Mommy is cooking!” Mikhail said sitting on the table with his family. It was new to him since it has been so long since he saw his mother cook.

“Mikhail, you do know mommy knows how to cook?” Symon said crossing his arms in disbelief that his younger brother was quite of a surprise.

“No, I don’t.” Mikhail shakes his head still curiously observing his mother cook some sausages and scrambled eggs.

“She does sometimes. Maybe you were too young to remember.” Selene chuckled and she wiped Mikhail’s messy face. He was munching on the apples and vegetables as an appetizer.

“Symon, eat your vegetables, please.” Sylvain keenly observed Symon as the boy refused to take a bite of the healthy food. He only ate the apples leaving out the greener food aside.

“Yuck!” Symon pulled out his tongue in disgust. “I don’t like the taste of it!” He said trying to reason out with his father.

“Then put some cheese in it.” Maia said playfully adding cheese into his salad.

“It looks weirder.” Symon gnawed in response with the cheese around his untouched food. It doesn’t look as appetizing now.

“Finish your salad or no sausages.” Byleth said as she came by the table giving a sausage to his siblings except him.

“What?! Mommy! Please! You know it’s my favorite!” Symon gave her the _cute_ stare. It almost looked like her husband pouting at her making her relent to his appeals, but it doesn’t work anymore. She was used to their whims and flattery by now.

“Vegetables are healthy for you. So you can grow as tall as your daddy.” She said encouraging him and Symon tentatively took his a bite of the food, chewing it slowly, with his eyes closed from repugnance. He told his parents that he wanted to be as tall as his father and Sylvain was smart enough to tell him to eat his vegetables so that he could grow taller.

“Very good.” Byleth smiled ruffling her son’s hair. Symon did his best chewing every last piece and when the final bite came, he was rewarded with his favorite food.

“Hooray!” Maia clapped her hands seeing her brother finish his salad.

“Good job.” Selene said.

“Healthy!” Mikhail huffed in approval.

“Did you greet your father? It’s his birthday today!” Byleth reminded the children and they all gasped. Obviously, they forgot about the occasion since all of them were too busy from school.

“Happy Birthday Daddy!” They said clapping their hands and singing the birthday song and Byleth sang along with them.

“Wait! Wait! There’s no cake!” Sylvain said disapprovingly despite being so touched with their greetings in the morning.

“No worries, Mommy said we will have dinner in a restaurant tonight!” Maia said recalling the other night when she was with her mother reserving a place from the restaurant.

Sylvain widened his eyes. It was new. Every year, they always celebrated his birthday at home. “R-Really?” He turned to his wife, who just gave him a smile seeing him surprised.

“It’s not a fancy one, but it will do.” She said and he was heartened by her effort.

Getting his hopes up for tonight, she gladly finished up her breakfast. “Alright, finish up so we can go to school.” She said and the children agreed.

This time, she drove them to school, each child kissing their mother and father before unstrapping themselves from the seatbelt and leaving the van for school.

“See you later daddy and mommy!” Maia said going down the van and taking her backpack. She was already in middle school. The look on Sylvain’s face seeing his little girl becoming more independent moved him severely and he cried when she saw her leave on the first day of school. Maia was somewhat embarrassed, but she gave a smile as she left. Selene and Symon were next and they were dropped off just on the next building where their elementary school was located.

“Bye! Bye!” Selene gave another flying kiss and Symon gladly waved “Bye!” to their parents as they entered the building.

Lastly, Mikhail was brought to a private preschool where Mercedes and Emile happily greeted the children in the morning.

“Hello, Mikhail… Good morning.” Emile greeted the boy and Mikhail sleepily waved at him waiting for his father. Sylvain was busily fixing his backpack checking if his packed lunch was inside.

“Alright, good to go.” Sylvain said and he pulled out Mikhail’s preschool apron.

“Wear your uniform before you enter, okay?” his father said and Mikhail raised his arms as he let his father put on the apron for him and Byleth gave him his small backpack.

“See you later, daddy and mommy.” Mikhail kissed his parent’s cheeks and took the hand of Ms. Mercedes.

“Happy Birthday, Mr. Gautier.” Mercedes smiled greeting her old classmate. There a bit of a tease calling him professionally.

“Thank you Mercedes. And I told you to go easy on the greetings!” Sylvain smiled back reminded her again that he preferred to be called by his first name since he was still her friend even back in the day.

“Hahaha, You never change do you?” Mercedes giggled. “Any celebration today?”

“Later, we will have a small dinner.” Byleth replied and Mercedes was very pleased. The thought of Sylvain marrying the professor was a shock to her before and here they are--- happily married. It was some kind of juicy gossip, with a wholesome story next to it.

“That’s great. Mikhail will be very excited. Aren’t you?” Mercedes glanced at the _smaller Sylvain_ holding her hand.

“Yes, I’ll make a card for daddy later!” Mikhail said enthusiastically excited to paint another picture today.

“Then let’s get inside and start it, okay?” The preschool principal led the boy inside. Mikhail gave another wave back to his parents before he entered the building.

…

The drive back home was silent. Just a while ago, the children were singing some songs (very loudly and repeatedly) from famous children’s movies on the way to school. Sylvain was not as bothered as before since his wife was going to be with him for the whole day. It was definitely a nice change of pace.

He glanced at his wife driving carefully around the road. Several months ago, she was struggling with learning how to drive when she made the commitment to drive when Jeralt had a talk with her. Somehow, his instructions worked and he could recall the faces of the children in horror (strapping themselves by the backseat) when Byleth used to drive before. Both of them improved so much over the years.

“Many chores today?” Byleth asked breaking the comfortable silence.

“Yup.” Sylvain leaned back on the front seat thinking about the things needed to be done at home. It may be his birthday, but work at home needed to be completed. He liked the house sparkly and clean after all.

…

After lunch, Sylvain watched the laundry hanged outside flowing with the gentle breeze. The house was almost clean due to the assistance of his wife, Byleth, who even volunteered to cook lunch and wash the dishes. It made him a bit ashamed on letting his wife do all the work for today.

“Are you sure you are okay? I can help you.” Sylvain asked again for umpteenth time observing her by the kitchen doing the dishes.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said continuing her work. Her resolve was persistent. She clearly wanted him to relax today. Then she forgot one thing as she felt him wrap his arms around her front.

“Hmmm…” He leaned at her back kissing her shoulders and then to her cheeks. “Thank you.” He muttered grateful for her help. Byleth was familiar with this gesture. He was always kissing her when they work on the chores which she found all downright irritating every now and then, but there are times that she liked it. This was one of the rare times.

After the dishes were cleaned and kept to dry, he pulled away heading over by the living room.

The lack of his touch faintly irritated her. Her thoughts were now teasing her on how much she disagreed liking his touches. This led her to follow him into the living room.

“What are you doing?” She asked as he sat down on the couch.

“I’m looking for a romantic song.” Sylvain said busy skimming the contents on his phone.

“Why? What’s it for?” She asked perplexed.

“This.” The cheesy song finally played and it was from their wedding playlist. He stood up as the song enveloped the whole room.

“May I have this dance, milady?” He grinned gingerly offering her his hand.

“Is this because I’m wearing a dress today?” She gave a small chuckle and took his hand.

“No, I don’t really have time to do this with you. Besides, it would be nice to bring back good memories.” He brought her closer to him resting a hand on her waist and the other holding her hand. Slowly, they swayed around the music reminiscing the tumultuous times they had with each other. It really took a lot of effort on where they are now.

“A _long time ago_ , I asked you to dance with me jokingly mentioning how it could be good practice for our wedding reception.” He said to her still listening to the sweetness of the music playing around the background. It was a slow and classic song during their time. The use of flowery language was entailed in the lyrics talking about a guy’s true feelings for a girl that he fell in love with.

“I thought you weren’t serious.” Byleth said going with the flow of his small movements. Sylvain could only lead her letting her twirl at one point and becoming enthralled by the dress swirling around her. It brought back memories of their wedding. There were tears, soft kisses, goodbyes with family and accompanied with a breathtaking view of his wife in a white gown saying her vows with him.

“It’s your birthday today. But you make it sound like more like our anniversary.” She sighed leaning her forehead with his and he returned her gesture with an embrace.

He rested his head on her shoulder as they continued dancing leisurely around the music. “No, you absolutely spoiled me today. I’m enamored by your kindness, milady.” He softly spoke with trepidation in his mind. He wished this would last forever. His happiness was completely sheltered in this small home they built.

This could not even compete on his previous birthdays during his childhood and all the way to his university. They were not as special as this. The memory of his older brother beating him up on his birthday due to his parents gifting him an expensive cake was still fresh from his mind. However, Ingrid did plan a surprise birthday party for him only for him to mess it up with bringing along another girl who ruined the whole celebration. Dimitri and Felix were highly sickened by him after that event. Then Byleth comes along, made a small cake by hand and told him how awful it was, in spite of her tiresome state from working all day. The following year, Felix and the others did plan a surprise party with Byleth and it was a very precious memory for him as he found out that Byleth was pregnant with Maia.

“You’re worried again.” Byleth noticed his saddened state during their dance.

“I’m worried that everything will fall apart because of me.” He said still hugging her holding her close to him.

“It won’t, as long as we both work together.” She reassured him caressing his back gently, retelling him that they need to support each other throughout their marriage life, which is absolutely stated in their whole lives.

“No more cheating, skirt-chasing, lying and escaping from it.” She said seriously intimidating him again if he ever followed this line of thought again. He knew it and gladly partakes in the promise. Even his childhood friends were stunned by great disbelief on how he evenhandedly ceased everything for her. It was like a miracle blessed by the goddess herself.

“No more.” He pulled her again for another of those many kisses he shared with her.

“I’ll make you happy. I promise.”

The rest of the hour was spent on them dancing along with all the cheesy music Sylvain liked. Then later retiring by the couch to watch Sylvain’s favorite romantic movie where Byleth watched with displeasure on the lines of the main character vying for the affections of his beloved using famous lines that she knew her husband would easily use on her when the time is right.

…

Picking up the children was a breeze. Mikhail finished earlier in preschool and he had a short nap at home with Sylvain while Byleth fetched the rest of the children from school.

That night, they all headed out to the restaurant to have a small celebration.

“A park outside! A park outside!” Mikhail and Symon said excitingly looking at the outside area from the window. They wanted to play in the playground. 

“Is this why you chose this place?” Sylvain asked his wife and she agreed.

“It would be nice for them to play while we wait for the food.” She said as she took the menu and handed out to the rest of the kids.

“Choose what you want today and daddy will pay for it.” Byleth winked at her husband and he gulped.

“W-What?!” He recalled his wife telling him that she would pay for today. She has the upper hand in their financial duties so it was certain that it should be her paying for their everyday expenses.

“I’m joking.” Byleth giggled massaging his shoulder. It was adorable that he took it seriously. He always seems to follow Byleth’s demands every time she instructs him to do something.

“Since, it’s my birthday you have to watch the kids in the playground today.” He retaliated back from her teases sighing from relief with her little comment.

“Fine. Fine.” She said unabashedly agreeing to him.

After they ordered, Byleth brought all the children outside as promised.

…

Sylvain sat on the table waiting for the food and he regretted letting his wife bring the children outside. Their happy faces running outside the playground was incredible. He liked that they played without any care in the world savoring their small time as children. He wondered what they would be like when they grow up. The thought was devastating, yet it gave him a sense of pride raising them equally and teaching them how to love their siblings. It was something that changed on how his parents raised him with Miklan.

He noticed that his wife and children snuck away from his sight and he slightly panicked on their whereabouts then it was followed by a complete darkness around the restaurant. Everything turned black, nothing was visible in plain sight, and he was alone in the table.

The darkness in his thoughts crept up before him telling him how alone he was, how vulnerable he was, how worthless he was with his family, as a father, as a husband, and as a friend. The thoughts of Miklan and his past traumas lingered greatly in his thoughts.

Or was this all a dream…? A dream he wished for so long, the feeling of being loved for whom he was, not because of his richness, talent, knowledge or ingenuity. It was painful for him to think like this as the lights promptly went back on. He blinked adjusting his eyes to the brightly illuminated place.

“SURPRISE!”

In front of him was a large birthday cake surrounded by his wife and children clapping and greeting him repetitively.

They screamed in excitement while lighting the candles one by one. There was commotion around the restaurant and when his gaze shifted around. It turns out that it was not only his family, but his friends were here too!

Dimitri stood beside Marianne at the corner of one side, and beside them were Ashe and Ingrid carrying their 5 year old, Christophe.

There was Dedue and his wife, Jeralt and Sitri, Lysithea, Ignatz, Mercedes, Emile, Raphael… It was all the people he befriended all these years. Especially Felix and Annette were present just beside his children.

“Ah…” He breathed much to his amazement. It was amazing. They all planned this for him and he never knew it. It slipped past him as he was already gratified with a simple life at home with his wife and children.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” They said altogether and they began to sing him the birthday song.

While listening to their cheers, laughter, and their singing, he _almost_ cried and his dark thoughts wandered away, _far_ away from his mind.

**They all love him.**

It’s just that Sylvain never knew how much they did until now.

“BLOW THE CANDLES, DADDY!”

“MAKE A WISH FIRST!”

“DADDY, LET ME HELP YOU BLOW THE CANDLES!”

"WISH WISH WISH!"

He could hear his children calling out to him and he did blowing the candles one by one.

This celebration wasn’t as grand like the parties his parents made for him, or the gifts showered by him from prominent families, or the fake smiles and kisses from previous ladies in his past. It was simple and unreservedly a decent celebration.

It was too _perfect_ for him _._

And that was his wish… for more wonderful memories with all the people he loved so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a day late but Happy Birthday Sylvain! *June 5  
> did u knw that i ate so much British cheese when I wrote dis.... and sorry I could have written it better, but I was racing after the deadline of his birthday... I'll try better next time.  
> (Laughs in cheesiness and flowery language)


End file.
